1. Nahum ben Joseph Samuel Sokolow was a Jewish-Polish writer, translator, and journalist, the fifth President of the World Zionist Organization, editor of Ha-Tsfira, researcher, Zionist leader and statesman.
26 Facts About Nahum Sokolow
1. 2.
Nahum Sokolow married at eighteen and settled in Makov, where his father-in-law lived, and earned a living as a wool merchant.
3.
Nahum Sokolow was a prominent contributor to the periodical Ivri Anochi.
4.
Nahum Sokolow is regarded as the father of modern Hebrew journalism.
5.
Nahum Sokolow established European standards for Hebrew press, emphasizing factual, up-to-date, and accurate reporting.
6.
Nahum Sokolow pioneered the Hebrew reportage style, developed a unique linguistic register blending layers of Hebrew with his own neologisms for foreign words.
7.
Nahum Sokolow introduced the Yiddish feuilleton genre to Hebrew, pioneered travel writing, and was the first Hebrew journalist to include a regular weekly literary supplement.
8.
Nahum Sokolow formulated an early concept of journalistic ethics centered on truth and accuracy, avoiding sensationalism.
9.
In 1902, Nahum Sokolow translated Herzl's Altneuland into Hebrew, coining the name Tel Aviv.
10.
Nahum Sokolow explained the name as a combination of "Tel" and "Aviv".
11.
In 1906, After Herzl's death, Nahum Sokolow was asked to become the secretary general of the World Zionist Congress.
12.
Unlike others, Nahum Sokolow remained close to Orthodox Judaism and studied Talmud daily.
13.
Nahum Sokolow negotiated with France, securing the Cambon Declaration in support of Jewish settlement in Palestine.
14.
Nahum Sokolow secured the support of Pope Benedict XV on 4 May 1917, who described the return of the Jews to Palestine as "providential; God has willed it".
15.
Nahum Sokolow secured the assent of France in the Cambon letter of 4 June 1917, signed by Jules Cambon, the head of the political section of the French foreign ministry.
16.
Nahum Sokolow acted as Weizmann's eyes and ears in Paris on a diplomatic mission with Sir Mark Sykes to negotiate with the French.
17.
Nahum Sokolow did not know of the Sykes-Picot Agreement and British-French understanding on Middle Eastern policy matters.
18.
Nahum Sokolow believed that he must report to Weizmann that what France really meant by a "Greater Syria", taking the whole of Palestine for themselves.
19.
Nahum Sokolow countered by replying that he remained totally committed to a British Palestine.
20.
Nahum Sokolow asked for "moral support", a philosophical equality, and immediately wrote Weizmann about the "expressing of favour", but Weizmann was not so emotional since he had a tough hard-headed businesslike character.
21.
Nahum Sokolow was called upon to stop at Paris by Jules Cambon and Prime Minister Alexandre Ribot.
22.
At the 12th Zionist Congress in 1921, Nahum Sokolow was elected Chair of the Zionist Executive, serving until the 17th Zionist Congress in 1931, when he became President of the World Zionist Organization.
23.
In 1931, Nahum Sokolow was elected President of the World Zionist Congress and served in that capacity until 1935, when he was succeeded by Chaim Weizmann.
24.
Nahum Sokolow served as President of the Jewish Agency for Palestine between 1931 and 1933, when he was succeeded by Arthur Ruppin.
25.
Nahum Sokolow died suddenly in London in 1936 at his desk.
26.
At seventeen, Nahum Sokolow married Rivka, daughter of Rabbi Yitzhak Zvi Segal of the Makow family, who encouraged his intellectual pursuits.