Born in Odessa, Dr. Yehuda Leib Pinsker (1821-1891) studies law and medicine, eventually pursuing a career as a medical doctor. After the 1871 pogroms in Odessa, he becomes active in the Hibbat Zion movement and is elected as its leader in the Katovits Conference in 1884. He advocates for the emigration of Russian Jews and the establishment of a National Jewish Center, if possible, in Eretz Ysrael, which is to be the homeland for all Jewish people.