Zangwill
Zangwill, Israel
ACHIEVEMENTS: Zionist Leader.
NICKNAME/ALIAS: None.
DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH: 21st January 1864, London, England.
DATE/PLACE OF DEATH/AGE AT DEATH: 1st August 1926, Midhurst, West Sussex, England. Aged 62.
DISCIPLINE: Activist.
FIELD: Politics.
EDUCATION: Bristol Jewish Free School, Spitalfields, London University of London.
MAJOR WORK: “Children of the Ghetto” (1892). “Dreamers of the Ghetto” (1898).
LIFE AND TIMES:
In 1877, he won a medal given to the Jewish Free School school by its main sponsor, LN Rothschild* and, in 1881, he won a literary competition for a story which was praised for its humor. In 1884 he graduated from London University with triple honours in English, French and Mental and Moral Science, and worked at the Jewish Free School in Whitechapel as master of the senior form. He then became feature writer for the Jewish Standard, with his own column, and also sub-edited and contributed stories and poems. By 1890, he had became editor of “Ariel”, a satirical magazine for which he wrote an article titled “Unholy Russia”, contrasting the claims of Russia to be the bastion of orthodox Christianity with its treatment of Jews.
In 1891 he joined the “New Humour” group of writers, and collaborated with Karl Marx’s daughter, Eleanor Marx*, on a satirical essay in which they re-wrote Henrik Ibsen’s “The Doll’s House” to suit contemporary Victorian attitudes. He was then asked to write a Jewish novel for the Jewish Publication Society of America and in 1892, “The Children of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People” was published. His reputation was established immediately and he became the best-known English-language Jewish novelist in Britain and America.
In 1893 he wrote “Ghetto Tragedies”, a collection of four short stories, in which he questioned the meaning of Jewishness. In 1895, he wrote an essay “The Position of Judaism”, concerned with the social position of Western Jews. In his preface to the essay, he wrote “the fall of the ghettos has left Israel dazed in the sunlight of the wider world without, his gabardine half off and half on”.
In November 1895, Herzl* came to London to promote the Zionist cause and was given a letter of introduction to Zangwill, who was extremely attracted to the idea that Judaism might best survive through the establishment of a Jewish nation. Like Herzl, Zangwill was not religious and did not live a life of Jewish custom. Over the next few years he began to work out his own position on Zionism.
In 1898, he wrote “Dreamers of the Ghetto”, a series of fictionalised historical vignettes illustrating his view that Jews suffered not only at the hands of Christians but also from conservative Judaism. In 1901, Zangwill wrote that the only answer to the Jewish question was Hertzl’s: the establishment of a state in Palestine. He became a Zionist, serving as one of the official delegates to the Fifth Zionist Congress.
In 1903 Zangwill married Edith Ayrton, daughter of the eminent electric engineer and physicist, Ayrton*. The novelist Jerome K Jerome* was present at the wedding reception.During this time he was still writing stories, poems, essays and plays such as “The Melting Pot” (1908 ) about the life of Jewish emigrants in America. It had a sensational success in the US and ran for many years.
Most Zionists wanted Palestine as their homeland, but Herzl and Zangwill both thought that this was impossible, and that land for the Jews must be found elsewhere. When Herzl died in 1905 Zangwill took over the leadership of the Zionist movement and, during the next two decades, became the most prominent speaker and activist for an internationally-sanctioned Jewish state. He founded and became president of the Jewish Territorial Organisation for Settlement of the Jews within the British Empire, which interviewed rulers about their territories, compiled statistics and explored potential sites.
In 1914 he lobbied for a Jewish state in Palestine. Now that the Ottoman Empire and Britain were on opposing sides, Zangwill felt that one of the principal objections to a choice of Palestine was removed. When the British mandate was established in Palestine in 1919, he felt badly betrayed. His health declined and, in 1925, he resigned from the organization , and died on 1st August 1926.
ASSESSEMENT: Inspired by Herzl, he became the most prominent speaker for Zionism in the first two decades of the twentieth century.
EXTRA CONNECTIONS: He was anticipated by Lazarus*
ONELINER: Israel Zangwill, prominent Zionist
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Udelson, Joseph H,Dreamer of the Ghetto, The Life and Works of Israel Zangwill, University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa and London, 1990.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Zangwill
PARENTS: Father, Moses Zangwill. Mother, Ellen Hannah Marks, daughter of William Ayrton, physicist.
SIBLINGS: Brothers, Mark and Louis. Sisters, Leah and Dinah.
SPOUSE: Edith Chaplin Ayrton.
CHILDREN: Two sons and one daughter.
Metadata:
In 1877, he won a medal given to the Jewish Free School school by its main sponsor, LN Rothschild* and, in 1881, he won a literary competition for a story which was praised for its humor.
In 1884 he graduated from London University with triple honours in English, French and Mental and Moral Science, and worked at the Jewish Free School in Whitechapel as master of the senior form.
He then became feature writer for the Jewish Standard, with his own column, and also sub-edited and contributed stories and poems. By 1890, he had became editor of “Ariel”, a satirical magazine for which he wrote an article titled “Unholy Russia”, contrasting the claims of Russia to be the bastion of orthodox Christianity with its treatment of Jews.
In 1891 he joined the “New Humour” group of writers, and collaborated with Karl Marx’s daughter, Eleanor Marx*, on a satirical essay in which they re-wrote Henrik Ibsen’s “The Doll’s House” to suit contemporary Victorian attitudes.
He was then asked to write a Jewish novel for the Jewish Publication Society of America and in 1892, “The Children of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People” was published.
His reputation was established immediately and he became the best-known English-language Jewish novelist in Britain and America.
In 1893 he wrote “Ghetto Tragedies”, a collection of four short stories, in which he questioned the meaning of Jewishness. In 1895, he wrote an essay “The Position of Judaism”, concerned with the social position of Western Jews. In his preface to the essay, he wrote “the fall of the ghettos has left Israel dazed in the sunlight of the wider world without, his gabardine half off and half on”.
In November 1895, Herzl* came to London to promote the Zionist cause and was given a letter of introduction to Zangwill, who was extremely attracted to the idea that Judaism might best survive through the establishment of a Jewish nation. Like Herzl, Zangwill was not religious and did not live a life of Jewish custom. Over the next few years he began to work out his own position on Zionism.
In 1898, he wrote “Dreamers of the Ghetto”, a series of fictionalised historical vignettes illustrating his view that Jews suffered not only at the hands of Christians but also from conservative Judaism. In 1901, Zangwill wrote that the only answer to the Jewish question was Hertzl’s: the establishment of a state in Palestine. He became a Zionist, serving as one of the official delegates to the Fifth Zionist Congress.
In 1903 Zangwill married Edith Ayrton, daughter of the eminent electric engineer and physicist, Ayrton*. The novelist Jerome K Jerome* was present at the wedding reception.
During this time he was still writing stories, poems, essays and plays such as “The Melting Pot” (1908 ) about the life of Jewish emigrants in America. It had a sensational success in the US and ran for many years.
Most Zionists wanted Palestine as their homeland, but Herzl and Zangwill both thought that this was impossible, and that land for the Jews must be found elsewhere. When Herzl died in 1905 Zangwill took over the leadership of the Zionist movement and, during the next two decades, became the most prominent speaker and activist for an internationally-sanctioned Jewish state.
He founded and became president of the Jewish Territorial Organisation for Settlement of the Jews within the British Empire, which interviewed rulers about their territories, compiled statistics and explored potential sites.
In 1914 he lobbied for a Jewish state in Palestine. Now that the Ottoman Empire and Britain were on opposing sides, Zangwill felt that one of the principal objections to a choice of Palestine was removed. When the British mandate was established in Palestine in 1919, he felt badly betrayed.
His health declined and, in 1925, he resigned from the organization , and died on 1st August 1926.