Leon Pinsker, 1821-1891

Pinsker was born in Russian-ruled Poland. He advocated full Jewish emancipation and joined the assimilationist Society for the Promotion of Culture Among the Jews of Russia, but pogroms in 1871 and 1881 pushed him to embrace Jewish national liberation. In 1882 he published “Auto-Emancipation” to urge Jewish independence. In 1884 he organized a Hibbat Zion (Lovers of Zion) conference on the revival of Jewish life in the Land of Israel.

Photo: Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia