Joseph B. Brociner (; October 1846 – 1918) was a

Romanian Jewish The history of the Jews in Romania concerns the Jews both of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is present-day Romanian territory. Minimal until the 18th century, the size of the Jewish population increased after ...

jurist, activist, communal leader. He was active in the struggle for

Jewish emancipation Jewish emancipation was the process in various nations in Europe of eliminating Jewish disabilities, to which European Jews were then subject, and the recognition of Jews as entitled to equality and citizenship rights. It included efforts withi ...

as President of the Union of Hebrew Congregations of Romania.

Biography

Early life

Joseph Brociner was born in October 1846 to Idel Ber Brociner, the grandson of

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ist Abraham David Wahrman. From 1864 to 1866, Brociner studied law at the

University of Iași The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in , Romania. Founded by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former was converted to a university, the University of , as it was named ...

, and during that time helped found the ''Uniunii israelite'', a Jewish defensive publication society. In 1867 Brociner settled at

Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...

as a merchant. He joined (1868) the Galați Lodge of the

Grand Orient de France The Grand Orient de France (, abbr. GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly absorbe ...

Masonic Order Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, and as a Freemason was active in bringing about a modification of rituals, finally obtaining for himself the thirty-third degree. At the time, he was the only Jew among the Freemasons of the Grand Orient to attain this degree.

Career

In 1873 Brociner was chosen president of the local committee of the

Alliance Israélite Universelle The Alliance israélite universelle (AIU; ; ) is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 with the purpose of safeguarding human rights for Jews around the world. It promotes the ideals of Jewish self-defense and self-suffi ...

. Together with Leopold Stern of Bucharest, he was delegated in 1876 to represent Rumania at the conference of the Alliance Israélite Universelle for the defense of Jews in the Orient, held under the chairmanship of

Adolphe Crémieux Isaac-Jacob Adolphe Crémieux (; 30 April 1796 – 10 February 1880) was a French lawyer and politician who served as Minister of Justice under the Second Republic (1848) and Government of National Defense (1870–1871). Raised Jewish, he ...

at Paris. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877, Brociner was secretary of the committee for maintaining ambulances on the battlefield; and in April and May 1878, he accompanied Adolph Stern to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and

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 ...

to obtain the co-operation of their coreligionists in championing the cause of the Romanian Jews at the

Congress of Berlin At the Congress of Berlin (13 June – 13 July 1878), the major European powers revised the territorial and political terms imposed by the Russian Empire on the Ottoman Empire by the Treaty of San Stefano (March 1878), which had ended the Rus ...

. In June he was a member of the commission sent to Berlin to furnish the congress of the European powers with information on the Romanian question. In August 1878, along with

Benjamin F. Peixotto Benjamin Franklin Peixotto (November 13, 1834 – September 18, 1890) was a Jewish-American lawyer and diplomat. Life Peixotto was born on November 13, 1834, in New York City, New York, the son of Dutch immigrant and physician Daniel Levy Madu ...

, American

consul-general A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

s, he represented the Romanian Jews at the second conference of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, held at Paris. Brociner accompanied his brother, (another brother, , was secretary to King Charles of Romania), to Vienna, Berlin, and Paris (1879), in order to further the interests of the Romanian Jews in these cities. He was president of the Jewish community of Galați in 1874, 1878, 1884, and 1893. In 1884 he was vice-president of the Galați committee for establishing Jewish settlements 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 ...

which were afterward taken under the protection of

Baron Edmond de Rothschild Baron Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild (; 19 August 1845 – 2 November 1934) was a French member of the Rothschild banking family. A strong supporter of Jewish settlement in Palestine, his large donations lent significant support to ...

of Paris. The Union of Romanian Jewish Congregations was due to Brociner's initiative, and in recognition of his services he was unanimously elected first president. In addition to many articles on the Jewish question, and various reports published by the B'nai B'rith Lodge, Brociner wrote a pamphlet entitled ''Law of Moadim (Days of Meeting)''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brociner, Joseph 1846 births 1918 deaths Romanian Zionists Romanian Jews Hovevei Zion Romanian Freemasons Romanian activists Jewish activists