Nahum Sokolow

Who was Nahum Sokolow?

Nahum Sokolow was a Zionist leader, author, translator, and a pioneer of Hebrew journalism.

Born to a rabbinic family in Wyszogród, Poland, Sokolow began writing for the local Hebrew newspaper, HaTzefirah, when he was only seventeen years old. He quickly won himself a huge following that crossed the boundaries of political and religious affiliation among Polish Jews, from secular intellectuals to anti-Zionist Haredim, and eventually had his own regular column. Over the years, he would eventually become the newspaper's senior editor and a co-owner.

In 1906 Sokolow was asked to become the secretary general of the World Zionist Congress. In the ensuing years, he crisscrossed Europe and North America to promote the Zionist cause. During World War I, he lived in London, where he was a leading advocate for the Balfour Declaration of 1917, in which the British government declared its support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. In 1931 he was elected President of the World Zionist Congress, and served in that capacity until 1935, when he was succeeded by Chaim Weizmann. He also served as President of the Jewish Agency for Palestine between 1931 and 1933 and was succeeded by Arthur Ruppin.