Herrmann, Leo, 1888-1951

Leo Herrmann was a journalist and Zionist activist, born 1888 in Landskron. After studying law in Prague, Herrmann joined the Bar Kochba Association, the organization of Prague Zionists, in 1906 and served as its chairman between 1908 and 1909. Herrmann was editor of the Prague Zionist weekly Selbstwehr (Self-Defense) from 1910 to 1913. Under his editorship, it became a respected political and literary journal. In 1913, Herrmann moved to Berlin, where he assumed the post of secretary of the World Zionist Organization and later became editor-in-chief of Die jüdische Rundschau (The Jewish Review), succeeding his cousin Hugo Herrmann. He published Nathan Birnbaum, sein Werk und seine Wandlung (Nathan Birnbaum: His Work and His Transformation) in 1914 and the pamphlet “Im Kampf um die hebräische Sprache” (The Struggle for the Hebrew Language) in the same year. Die Treue (Fidelity), a collection of essays on Jewish themes, appeared in 1916. Herrmann was one of the promoters of Martin Buber’s journal Der Jude, which was launched in 1916. He was a member of the Czechoslovak delegation at the Versailles Peace Conference. In 1920, he cofounded Keren Hayesod (the Palestine Foundation Fund) with Berthold Feiwel. In 1926, Hermann moved to Jerusalem, where he worked as general secretary of Keren Hayesod. He remained in that position until his death in 1951.

From the guide to the Leo Herrmann Collection, undated, 1909-1950, (Leo Baeck Institute Archives)