Max Nordau Figurine

Max Nordau (1849-1923) | Philosopher, author, physician and journalist. One of the fathers of the Zionist movement, political Zionism and the Muscular Judaism concept. Born in Hungary as Simon Maximilian Sudfeld, he studied medicine and later lived and worked as a journalist in Berlin, Paris, Madrid, and London. He was known as a sharp critic and deep thinker in the fields of society, religion and arts. He published his various writings under the pen name Max Nordau. In 1895, he became acquainted with Theodor Herzl and his ideas about a Jewish state, and became involved in the Zionist Congresses. He served as vice-president and then president of the Zionist Congress, and coined the term Muscular Judaism: Shaping the image of the new Jew as having physical and mental strength, through which he will fulfill Zionism, rehabilitate the image of the diaspora Jew and help to prevent antisemitic phenomena. His vision had a great impact, and it accelerated the establishment of Jewish sports associations. In 1903, he was saved from an assassination attempt because of his support for the Uganda Scheme. He died in 1923 while visiting Paris. His body was brought to Israel for burial in 1926.