Pi philosopher

Hebrew name given at his brit milah was Binyamin Ze'ev [בנימין זאב]

Father of modern political Zionism

Formed the Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state

Due to his Zionist work, he is known in Hebrew as Chozeh HaMedinah (חוֹזֵה הַמְדִינָה), lit. 'Visionary of the State'

Specifically mentioned in the Israeli Declaration of Independence and is officially referred to as "the spiritual father of the Jewish State"

After a brief legal career in Vienna, he became the Paris correspondent for the Viennese newspaper Neue Freie Presse

Confronted with antisemitic events in Vienna, he reached the conclusion that anti-Jewish sentiment would make Jewish assimilation impossible, and that the only solution for Jews was the establishment of a Jewish state

In 1896, he published the pamphlet Der Judenstaat, in which he elaborated his visions of a Jewish homeland

His ideas attracted international attention and rapidly established Herzl as a major figure in the Jewish world

In 1897, he convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, and was elected president of the Zionist Organization

Began a series of diplomatic initiatives to build support for a Jewish state, appealing unsuccessfully to German emperor Wilhelm II and Ottoman sultan Abdul Hamid II

At the Sixth Zionist Congress in 1903, Herzl presented the Uganda Scheme, endorsed by Colonial Secretary Joseph Chamberlain on behalf of the British government

The proposal, which sought to create a temporary refuge for the Jews in British East Africa following the Kishinev pogrom, was met with strong opposition and ultimately rejected

Also considered Argentina as a potential location for a Jewish homeland

Died of a heart ailment in 1904 at the age of 44, and was buried in Vienna

In 1949, his remains were taken to Israel and reinterred on Mount Herzl