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Shmaryahu Levin

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Shmarya Levin
Born
Shmaryahu Levin

Mar 23, 1867
Svislach, Belarus
DiedJun 9, 1935
Haifa, Israel[citation needed]
NationalityIsraeli
Other namesShmarya Levin
Occupation(s)Russian Zionist Leader, Politician
Signature

Shmaryahu Levin (Russian: Шмарьяху Левин; born 1867 in Svislach, Minsk Governorate; died 9 June 1935, Haifa), was a Jewish Zionist activist. He was a member of the first elected Russian Parliamentin 1906.

Biography

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Levin, originally from Svisloch, Belorussia, became involved with Hovevei Zion during his early years. A follower of Ahad HaAm, as a young man, he and Leo Motzkin created the union of Jewish students in Russia during their time at university in Berlin. He wote for Hebrew publications like Ha-Shilo'ah and Yiddish ones such as Der Yud and Der Fraynd.[1]

Shmaryahu Levin served as a crown rabbi in the towns of Grodno (1896–97) and Ekaterinoslav (Dnipropetrovsk) from 1898 to 1904.[2]

At the Sixth Zionist Congress in 1903, Levin was a prominent opponent of the Uganda Scheme. He also co-founded the League for the Attainment of Equal Rights for the Jewish People in Russia in 1905 and served on its central board.[3] In 1906, Levin was elected to represent the Jewish National List from Vilna in the inaugural Russian Duma.[1]

Shortly after the First Duma's dissolution, Levin escaped from Russia for Berlin. He was chosen to be a member of the Tenth Zionist Congress (1911). He participated in the activities of the Hilfsverein der deutschen Juden in Germany and helped to found a technical university in Haifa. He encouraged American Jews to support this endeavor.[1] However, together with Ahad Ha-Am and J. Tschlenow, Levin resigned from the Technion board of governors after their proposal to switch to teaching in Hebrew was turned down.[3]

Bust of Shmarya Levin at the Technion

In the 1920s, Levin was a representative of the World Zionist Organization and director of the Information Department of Keren Hayesod.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Shmaryahu Levin". Association of Jews of Vilna and vicinity in Israel. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  2. ^ Kaplan Appel, Tamar (3 August 2010). "Crown Rabbi". The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300119039. OCLC 170203576. Archived from the original on 2015-03-27. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  3. ^ a b "Levin, Shmarya". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2024-10-16.
  4. ^ Amit-Cohen, Irit (2012-10-01). Zionism and Free Enterprise: The Story of Private Entrepreneurs in Citrus Plantations in Palestine in the 1920s and 1930s. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-028815-5.
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