Louis Brandeis, 1856-1941

The first Jew on the U.S. Supreme Court, Brandeis influenced many American Jews in the early 20th century to become Zionists. He persuaded President Woodrow Wilson, a close friend, to support the 1917 Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate. He played a key role in the formation in 1926 of the Palestine Economic Corp., which helped finance development in the Land of Israel.

Photo: George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress