Bernard Flexner (1865–1945), a New York lawyer, was a prominent member of the

Zionist Organization of America The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA; ) is an American nonprofit pro-Israel organization. Founded in 1897, as the Federation of American Zionists, it was the first official Zionist organization in the United States. Early in the 20th century ...

. Flexner was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

to a family that immigrated from Europe in the early 1860s. He studied law in the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

and the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. He was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1898. He practiced law until 1914, when he became active in public activity. He was chair of a

Juvenile court Juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal systems, chi ...

board in Louisville and in 1917 participated in a

Red cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

delegation to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He served as counsel for the Zionist delegation to the

Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...

(1918–1919) and in 1925 he was one of the founders of the ''Palestine Economic Corporation'' (PEC). He served as president of PEC until 1931 and afterwards was chairman of the director council of the PEC.M. A. Novomeysky
Bernard Flexner in Memoriam
The Palestine Post, 14/05/1945 He was one of the founders of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

. His papers are held in the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

Writings

''The Rights to a Jewish Home Land'',

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

, October 2, 1929.

External links

Bernard Flexner Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University

References

1865 births 1945 deaths 20th-century American Jews American lawyers People from New York (state) Lawyers from Louisville, Kentucky {{Judaism-bio-stub Zionist Organization of America members