Felix Weltsch (6 October 1884,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

– 9 November 1964,

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

), was a German-speaking

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish librarian, philosopher, author, editor, publisher and journalist. A close friend of Max Brod,

Ludwig Winder Ludwig Winder (7 February 1889 in Šafov – 16 June 1946 in Baldock) was an Austrian-Czech German-language writer, journalist and literary critic. He escaped Nazi persecution at the start of World War II when he and his family moved to the UK w ...

and

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

, he was one of the most important Zionists in Bohemia.

Life

Born in

(then in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

), Weltsch studied Law and Philosophy at the Charles University. He lived and worked in Prague until 15 March 1939, and left the city with Max Brod and his family on the last train out of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. In what at his arrival was Palestine and later the state of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, he worked as a librarian in

until his death in 1964. He had one daughter, Ruth Weltsch (1920–1991), with his wife Irma Herz (1892–1969). They married in August 1914. The publisher, journalist and Zionist Robert Weltsch was Felix Weltsch's cousin, and the Prague-born concert pianist Alice Herz-Sommer, who performed in and survived Theresienstadt at her death the world's oldest Holocaust survivor, was his sister-in-law. His grandson,

Eli Gorenstein Eli Gorenstein ( he, אלי גורנשטיין; born August 31, 1952) is an Israeli actor, voice actor, director, singer and cellist. Biography Gorenstein was born in Tel Aviv and was raised in Ramat Gan during his childhood. His maternal grandf ...

is an actor, cellist and among Israel's leading voice dubbers.

Influence

Weltsch's works around deal with the subjects of Ethics, Politics and Philosophy. For his ethical and political publications Weltsch received the Ruppin-Prize from the city of

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

in 1952. His most important work was the Jewish-Zionist weekly paper ''Selbstwehr'' (self-defense), which he led from 1919 until 1938. With this work and hundreds of articles he became one of the most important personalities in Jewish life next to

Martin Buber Martin Buber ( he, מרטין בובר; german: Martin Buber; yi, מארטין בובער; February 8, 1878 – June 13, 1965) was an Austrian Jewish and Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism ...

, Chaim Weizmann and Hugo Bergmann, his early school friend.

Works

* ''Anschauung und Begriff,'' 1913 (Co-author, Max Brod) * ''Organische Demokratie,'' 1918 * ''Gnade und Freiheit. Untersuchungen zum Problem des schöpferischen Willens in Religion und Ethik'', Munich 1920 * ''Nationalismus und Judentum,'' Berlin 1920 * ''Zionismus als Weltanschauung'', Jerusalem 1925 (Co-author, Max Brod) * ''Judenfrage und Zionismus'', 1929 * ''Antisemitismus als Völkerhysterie'', 1931 * ''Thesen des Nationalhumanismus'', 1934 * ''Das Rätsel des Lachens'', 1935 * ''Das Wagnis der Mitte'', 1937 * ''Die Dialektik des Leidens'' (Ha-Di’alektikah shel ha-Sevel), 1944 * ''Natur, Moral und Politik'' (Teva, Musar u-Mediniyyut), 1950 * ''Religion und Humor im Leben und Werk Franz Kafkas'', 1957

References

* Carsten Schmidt: ''Kafkas fast unbekannter Freund'' (''Kafka's nearly unknown friend''). Biography on Felix Weltsch. Publisher: Koenigshausen & Neumann, Germany 2010, .

External links

''Selbstwehr: Jüdisches Volksblatt''
a digitized Zionist newspaper edited by Weltsch, at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weltsch, Felix 1884 births 1964 deaths Writers from Prague People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Czechoslovak emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Jews in Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Czech-Jewish descent Austrian philosophers Czech philosophers Jewish philosophers Jewish Czech writers Czech male writers Austrian male writers Czech writers in German Austrian Zionists Czech Zionists Jews who emigrated to escape Nazism Librarians at the National Library of Israel 20th-century Czech philosophers