Ruben Bierer (Dr. ''Rubin Bierer'', often: ''Reuben Bierer''; born c. 1835 in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

; died 1931 lviv.) was a medical doctor in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

and one of the first pioneers of the Jewish nationalism and one of the first active zionists in Galicia and

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, adherent of

Hovevei Zion Hovevei Zion ( he, חובבי ציון, lit. ''hose who areLovers of Zion''), also known as Hibbat Zion ( he, חיבת ציון), refers to a variety of organizations which were founded in 1881 in response to the Anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian ...

in Galicia,

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 ...

and Bulgaria. In 1867, he was in Lviv a co-founder of the first Jewish-political association of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, ''Shomer Israel''. As an opponent against Polish assimilation of the Jews, he established, for the 1873 elections of the Reichsrat, a Jewish- Ruthenian electoral alliance. In 1879, he separated from the ''Shomer Israel'' and went 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 ...

for the purpose of medical studies where he – together with

Peretz Smolenskin Peretz (Peter) Smolenskin (; 25 February 1842 – 1 February 1885) was a Russian-born Zionist and Hebrew writer. Biography Peretz Smolenskin was born in Monastyrshchina, Mogilev Governorate, Russian Empire (in present-day Smolensk Oblast, ...

– found the Jewish-political association ''Ahavath Zion'' (for the reason of colonisation of the holy land). In 1882, he was a cofounder of the Viennese ''Kadima''

Studentenverbindung (; often referred to as Verbindung) is the umbrella term for many different kinds of fraternity-type associations in German-speaking countries, including Corps, , , , and Catholic fraternities. Worldwide, there are over 1,600 , about a thousa ...

. In 1883 he returned to Lviv where he founded the first Jewish-national association of the Austrian east, ''Miqra Kodesh''. In 1885, he went to

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, in 1900 he returned to Lviv where he successless tried to reactivate the ''Shomer Israel''.

Nathan Birnbaum Nathan Birnbaum ( he, נתן בירנבוים; pseudonyms: "Mathias Acher", "Dr. N. Birner", "Mathias Palme", "Anton Skart", "Theodor Schwarz", and "Pantarhei"; 16 May 1864 – 2 April 1937) was an Austrian writer and journalist, Jewish thinker a ...

coined the word

zionism Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a Nationalism, 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 ...

about the year 1890. But he is not the creator of this word, it was already in use, e.g. you can find in a letter of Ruben Bierer from 9 December 1888 the expression ''zionist brother's greeting''. The word ''zionist'' is found already in the year 1877 in an in Roumanian written pamphlet (annual report of the order "Zion" in Bucharest).M. Kühntopf-Gentz: ''Nathan Birnbaum. Biography'', Tübingen 1990

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bierer, Ruben 1840s births 1931 deaths Physicians from Austria-Hungary Physicians from Lviv People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Ukrainian Jews Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Hovevei Zion Austrian Zionists