Menachem Ussishkin, 1863-1941

Born in Belarus, Ussishkin was a Labor Zionist leader who rejected the Uganda Plan and any other suggestions for a Jewish home outside the Land of Israel. He was a founder of BILU and the Moscow branch of Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) during the First Aliyah. He was a Zionist representative at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. From 1923 until his death, he led the Jewish National Fund and arranged major land purchases.

Photo: Central Zionist Archives