Born in Budapest, Nordau was a physician and writer. In 1883 he had his greatest publishing success with “The Conventional Lies of Our Civilization,” which attacked organized religion and other institutions. In the 1890s he became a staunch Zionist and Theodor Herzl’s right-hand man. He served as the vice president of the Zionist Congresses, delivering an acclaimed speech at the first, and defended the Uganda Plan, which made him an assassination target in 1903.
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