Leo Arieh Goldhammer (Zehawi) (18 March 1884 – 18 July 1949) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

, lawyer, sociologist, statistician, and

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

leader.Die Geistige Elite Osterreichs, Verlag C. Barth, Wien, p.265 -266, 1936OBL, Oesterreichisches Biographisches Lexicon 1815-1950 (Austrian Academy of Science), p.23Judaica Lexicon, Davar editions, Keter publisher, Israel, p.79, 1976M. Henisch, Meebaiit Vemibachutz, Achdut Editor (Israel), p.246-247, 1961

Personal life

Born in Mihăileni,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, the son of the industrialist Isaac and Sohpie Goldhammer, he grew up in Chernivtsi and in 1904 moved to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He married Sidonie in 1914, having one son, Alfred (Emanuel), and two grandchildren, Ruth Goldhammer (Eldar) and Ehud Goldhammer. In 1939 he made aliyah to

Mandate Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

, and died in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

in 1949 after having suffered from a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

Studies

Following accomplishment of his studies in the Staatsgymnasium in Czernowitz he studied law and

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

in the Vienna University, Austria, and then economics in the Export Akademie of Vienna. He was also a student of Georg Simmel in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

(sociology) and

Franz Oppenheimer Franz Oppenheimer (March 30, 1864 – September 30, 1943) was a German Jewish sociologist and political economist, who published also in the area of the fundamental sociology of the state. Life and career After studying medicine in Freiburg and ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

(national economics).

Career

Along with his work as a lawyer, Goldhammer was actively involved in Zionist activity, social, and cultural life of the large Jewish community of Vienna. He published many articles,

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

s, works, and books, most of them in German, and several socio-economic research pieces on Chernivtsi's and Vienna's Jewish populations. Between 1933 and 1937 he was the editor and the publisher of the journal "Das Werdende Palestina", and wrote several articles in "Die Stimme – Judische Zeitung". Together with some Zionist activists in 1914 he founded the Theodor Herzl academic society,Goldhammer, Leo. 'Herzl and Freud.' Herzl Year Book. Editor - R.Patai, Vol. I. New York, 1958. 194 - 196 which published Zionist issues,

i, and

Jewish literature Jewish literature includes works written by Jews on Jewish themes, literary works written in Jewish languages on various themes, and literary works in any language written by Jewish writers. Ancient Jewish literature includes Biblical literature ...

. In 1921 he became a member of the presidency of the Austrian branch of the Jewish National Fund, and served as its chairman between 1937 and 1938, and was also involved with

Keren Hayesod Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal ( he, קרן היסוד, literally "The Foundation Fund") is an official fundraising organization for Israel with branches in 45 countries. Its work is carried out in accordance with the Keren haYesod Law-5 ...

. In 1925 he was elected to national board of

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

in Austria, and chaired it between 1926 and 1930. He represented the Jewish Zionist Community of Austria in the fifteenth to twenty-first Zionist Congresses. Goldhammer was also the President of the Jewish Community in Vienna, Chairman of the Jewish National Library (Volksbibliothek), and the President of the "Working Palestine in Austria" league. He was also actively involved in the Jewish sport club

Hakoah Vienna SC Hakoah Vienna (german: Sport Club Hakoah Wien; ' means "the strength" in Hebrew) is a Jews, Jewish sports club in Vienna, Austria. Prior to World War II, it produced several Olympic athletes and was notable for fielding an entirely Jewish ass ...

being the head of its

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

section. After the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

gained control on Austria, Goldhammer became involved in

Youth Aliyah Youth Aliyah (Hebrew: עלית הנוער, ''Aliyat Hano'ar'', German: Jugend-Alijah, Youth Immigration) is a Jewish organization that rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Nazis during the Third Reich. Youth Aliyah arranged for their r ...

, which encouraged immigration to Palestine. After 1938, most of his social and political activities took place in Israel, being one of the founders of the New Aliyah Party, and becoming a member of the Assembly of Representatives. He settled in Haifa and was head of the inhabitants registry department in the

Ministry of Internal Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

until 1949.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldhammer, Leo Israeli civil servants Members of the Assembly of Representatives (Mandatory Palestine) Austrian Zionists Bukovina Jews Austrian Jews Austrian emigrants to Israel Romanian emigrants to Israel Israeli Jews People from Botoșani County 1884 births 1949 deaths New Aliyah Party politicians