Visionary of the Jewish state, Theodor Herzl, was born 166 years ago

The father of modern Zionism, Theodor Herzl, was born 166 years ago to the day. The Hungarian Jewish journalist was born in Pest, eastern Budapest, on May 2, 1860, and laid the political foundations of the rebirth of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel.

In 1896, he published The Jewish State, envisioning the founding of an independent Jewish state during the 20th century. In 1897, he convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, which sparked the Zionist movement that eventually saw the inception of modern Israel in 1948.

Herzl died in 1904 and his remains were transported to Israel in 1949 for burial at the summit of Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.