Political Activism
In 1895, Marmorek met the Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist who founded modern political Zionism, Theodor Herzl. The publication of Herzl's book Der Judenstaat in 1896 and the first World Zionist Congress, organized together with Theodor Herzl and Max Nordau in 1897, formed a break in Marmorek's life. Oskar then decided to dedicate himself completely to the Zionism. In May 1901, the architect, acting as Secretary of the Actions Committee, traveled to Istanbul with Theodor Herzl and David Wolffsohn, Chairman of the Jewish Colonial Trust to meet the Sultan Abdul Hamid II. For his utopian novel Altneuland ("Old New Land") considered as one of Zionism’s establishing texts, Herzl modeled the character of "Dr Steineck" on his friend and collaborator Oskar Marmorek.
After the death of his friend in 1904, Oskar Marmorek was appointed by the Greater Actions Committee of the World Zionist Organization to act as Chairman until the election of David Wolffsohn as new President in 1905.
Read more about this topic: Oskar Marmorek
Famous quotes containing the word political:
“I would like you to understand completely, also emotionally, that I’m a political detainee and will be a political prisoner, that I have nothing now or in the future to be ashamed of in this situation. That, at bottom, I myself have in a certain sense asked for this detention and this sentence, because I’ve always refused to change my opinion, for which I would be willing to give my life and not just remain in prison. That therefore I can only be tranquil and content with myself.”
—Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937)