The term “Zionism” was coined in 1890 by Nathan Birnbaum. Nathan Birnbaum was born in Vienna, and lived there from.1864-1908, and again from 1914-21. In 1882, together with two other students in the University of Vienna, he founded “Kadimah,” the first organization of Jewish nationalist students in the West. In 1884, he published his first pamphlet, Die Assimilationsucht (“The Assimilation Disease/Mania”). He founded, published and edited Selbst-Emancipation! (“Self-Emancipation!”) (1884-1894), a periodical promoting “the idea of a Jewish renaissance and the resettlement of Palestine,” often written in large part by Birnbaum himself. In it he coined the terms "Zionistic", "Zionist", "Zionism" (1890), and "political Zionism" (1892). Birnbaum played a prominent part in the First Zionist Congress (1897) where he was elected Secretary-General of the Zionist Organization. He was associated with and was one of the most important representatives of the cultural, rather than political, side of Zionism. However, he left the Zionist Organization not long after the Congress. He was unhappy with its negative view of Diaspora Jewry and the transformation of the Zionist ideals into a party machine. source:Jewish virtual library
Posted on: Sat, 07 Sep 2013 08:19:25 +0000
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