Theodor Herzl

Theodor Herzl (May 2, 1860 - July 3, 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, playwright, political activist and writer, whose father was modern political Zionism. Herzl created a Zionist organization and promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine, seeking to create a Jewish state. Although he died before its founding, he is known as the father of the State of Israel. Herzl is specifically mentioned in the Declaration of Independence of Israel and is officially referred to as the “spiritual father of the Jewish state”, that is, a seer who gave a concrete, practicable platform and foundation for political Zionism. However, he was not the first Zionist theorist or activist; scholars, many of whom were religious, such as the rabbis of Yehuda Bibas, Zvi Hirsch Kalisher and Judah Alkalai, promoted a number of protossionist ideas in front of him.