Zvi Hermann Schapira (; 1840–1898), or Hermann Hirsch Schapira, was a

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

at the

University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

, and

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

. He was the first to suggest founding a

Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...

for the purchase of land in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Biography

Zvi Hermann Schapira was born in a small Lithuanian town, Erswilken, not far from the larger town of

Tauragė Tauragė (; see #Names and etymology, other names) is an industrial city in Lithuania, and the capital of Tauragė County. In 2020, its population was 20,956. Tauragė is situated on the Jūra, Jūra River, close to the border with the Kaliningr ...

,Jewish Encyclopedia part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, but also close to the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n border. After studying for the rabbinate, Schapira was first appointed rabbi at age twenty-four, but then decided to dedicate his life to the secular sciences. He first moved to

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

, and in 1868 to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he enrolled for three years at the . Schapira returned to Odessa, where he worked as a merchant for the next five years. In 1878 he switched back to scientific studies, spending the next four years in the German

university town A college town or university town is a town or city whose character is dominated by a college or university and their associated culture, often characterised by the student population making up 20 percent of the population of the community, bu ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

where he especially concentrated on mathematics and physics. In 1880, he applied for a PhD examination, with mathematics as a main subject and

mechanics Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...

and Hebrew Language and Literature as secondary subjects. That same year, with

Lazarus Fuchs Lazarus Immanuel Fuchs (5 May 1833 – 26 April 1902) was a Jewish-German mathematician who contributed important research in the field of linear differential equations. He was born in Mosina, Moschin in the Grand Duchy of Posen (modern-day M ...

as thesis advisor, he earned his doctorate with the dissertation ''Lineare homogene Cofunktionen'', "

Linear In mathematics, the term ''linear'' is used in two distinct senses for two different properties: * linearity of a '' function'' (or '' mapping''); * linearity of a '' polynomial''. An example of a linear function is the function defined by f(x) ...

homogeneous Homogeneity and heterogeneity are concepts relating to the uniformity of a substance, process or image. A homogeneous feature is uniform in composition or character (i.e., color, shape, size, weight, height, distribution, texture, language, i ...

cofunctions". In 1883 he established himself as ''

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

'' in mathematics at the University of Heidelberg, becoming assistant professor in 1887. Schapira published his mathematical work in a number of specialised journals. Throughout his life, Schapira remained a student of

Hebrew literature Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews, mostly among the Arab cit ...

, contributing an edition of the '' Mishnat ha-Middot'' (1880) based on a

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

manuscript. He also wrote for the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

periodicals ''

Ha-Meliẓ ''HaMelitz'' (Hebrew: ) was the first Hebrew newspaper in the Russian Empire. It was founded by Alexander Zederbaum in Odessa in 1860. History ''HaMelitz'' first appeared as a weekly, and it began to appear daily in 1886. From 1871, it was publish ...

'', ''

Ha-Ẓefirah ''Ha-Tsfira'' () was a Hebrew language, Hebrew-language newspaper published in Poland in 1862 and 1874–1931. History The first issue of ''Ha-Tsfira'' appeared in Warsaw, Congress Poland, in 1862, edited by Chaim Selig Slonimski. ''Ha-Tsfira'' wa ...

'', and ''Mi-Mizraḥ umi-Ma'arab''. In the aftermath of the Russian pogroms of 1881, Schapira lent his support to the proto-Zionist Hibbat Zion movement.Edelheit, Hershel
''History Of Zionism: A Handbook And Dictionary''
/ref> In 1884, Schapira proposed the establishment of an organization for the acquisition of land in

Eretz Yisrael The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definitions ...

and came up with the idea of the "Blue Box" as means of collecting money. He presented proposal for the creation of a Jewish national fund at the

First Zionist Congress The First Zionist Congress () was the inaugural congress of the Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization (ZO) held in the Stadtcasino Basel in the city of Basel on August 29–31, 1897. Two hundred and eight delegates from 17 countries and 2 ...

of 1897, where he supported the

Basel program The Basel Program was the first manifesto of the Zionism, Zionist movement, drafted between 27 and 30 August 1897 and adopted unanimously at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, on 30 August 1897. In 1951, it was replaced by the Je ...

, proving to be an enthusiastic

from the very beginning of the movement. Although the

(JNF) came into being only in 1901, at the Fifth Congress, after Shapira's death, he is still considered to be the "father" of the JNF. Also at the 1897 congress, Shapira brought up the idea of founding a

Hebrew university The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

.''Hebrew University Opens''
Center for Israel Education, accessed 15 February 2021 During a Zionist lecture tour he contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, and died there on 8 May 1898.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schapira, Zvi Hermann Jews from the Russian Empire Zionists from the Russian Empire Expatriates from the Russian Empire in Germany 1840 births 1898 deaths Hovevei Zion Forerunners of Zionism People from Tauragė County Academic staff of Heidelberg University Deaths from pneumonia in Germany Odesa Jews 19th-century mathematicians from the Russian Empire Burials at Har HaMenuchot Delegates to the First World Zionist Congress

Biography

References

Further reading

External links