Yehoshua Hankin, 1864-1945
Hankin was born in Ukraine and moved to Palestine with his father in 1882. The Hankins were among the founders of Rishon LeZion, now one of the largest cities in Israel. Acting on behalf of…
Bronislaw Huberman, 1882-1947
Born in the Russian-controlled Poland, Huberman toured Europe as an acclaimed violinist at age 11. He first visited the Land of Israel in 1929 and decided to bring classical music there. In 1936 he established…
Naftali Herz Imber, 1856-1909
Born in Ukraine, Imber moved to Palestine in 1882. Trained as a watchmaker, he instead became a Hebrew poet. His first poetry collection, which he published in Jerusalem in 1886, included “Tikvateinu” (“Our Hope”), which…
75 Founders of the State of Israel
These 75 people helped establish the foundations for a Jewish state in the Land of Israel between the start of the 19th century and independence in 1948. Those involved in the work of Zionism in the…
Ze’ev Jabotinsky, 1880-1940
A journalist born in Odesa, Jabotinsky organized self-defense units and fought for Jewish rights in Russia. He attended most Zionist Congresses from 1903 to 1933. He co-founded the Zion Mule Corps in World War I….
Eliezer Kaplan, 1891-1952
A native of Minsk in present-day Belarus, Kaplan was an active Socialist Zionist before immigrating to Palestine in 1919. He served as the treasurer of the Jewish Agency and a member of the Zionist Executive…
Berl Katznelson, 1887-1944
Belarus-born Katznelson co-founded the Histadrut labor federation and advocated for labor unity to uplift Jewish workers and small landholders. Immigrating to the Land of Israel in 1909, Katznelson became involved in labor councils. He helped…
Frederick “Frank” Kisch, 1888-1943
A British brigadier general, Kisch chaired the predecessor to the Jewish Agency, the Palestine Zionist Executive, from 1918 to 1921. Kisch was prolific in Jewish life in Mandate Palestine. He helped found the Palestine Philharmonic…
Abraham Isaac Kook, 1865-1935
Kook was born in Latvia and was one of the fathers of Religious Zionism. As a rabbi in London, he rallied popular support for the Balfour Declaration. After he immigrated to Palestine in 1919, Kook…
Moshe Leib Lilienblum, 1843-1910
A scholar and author born in Lithuania, Lilienblum embraced the Hibbat Zion (Lovers of Zion) movement in Russia after the pogroms of 1881 and served as secretary of an Odesa committee on Palestine settlement. His…
Isaac Jacob Reines, 1839-1915
A Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi born in Belarus, Reines was one of the earliest leaders of Religious Zionism, supported an unsuccessful effort to establish a settlement mixing Torah and labor in the early 1890s, and founded…
Yosef Sprinzak, 1885-1959
Originally from Moscow, Sprinzak was the first speaker of the Knesset, a position he held until his death. He was interim president after Chaim Weizmann died. After immigrating to Palestine during the Second Aliyah, Sprinzak…
Chaim Weizmann, 1874-1952
Weizmann, a native of Russian-controlled Poland, was the first president of Israel. In England during World War I, he used his chemistry skills to develop a synthetic process for making acetone and thus made relationships…
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