Leo Goldhammer

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Leo Arieh Goldhammer (Zehawi) (Hebrew: לאו גולדהמר) (18 March 1884 – 18 July 1949) was an Austrian and Israeli journalist, lawyer, sociologist, statistician, and Zionist leader. He was born in Mihăileni, Romania, grew up in Chernivtsi, and moved to Vienna in 1904.

He studied law and political science at the University of Vienna and economics at the Export Akademie Vienna. He also studied sociology in Berlin with Georg Simmel and national economics in Frankfurt with Franz Oppenheimer. He married Sidonie in 1914; they had a son, Alfred (Emanuel), and two grandchildren, Ruth Goldhammer (Eldar) and Ehud Goldhammer.

Goldhammer was very active in Vienna’s Jewish community. He published many articles and books in German about Jewish life in Czernowitz and Vienna. From 1933 to 1937 he was editor and publisher of the journal Das Werdende Palestina and wrote for Die Stimme.

In 1914 he helped found the Theodor Herzl academic society, which published Zionist and Jewish literature. In Austria, he led the Jewish National Fund branch (president 1937–1938) and was involved with Keren Hayesod. In 1925 he was elected to the national board of the Jewish Agency for Austria and chaired it from 1926 to 1930. He represented the Austrian Zionist Community at Zionist Congresses (15th to 21st). He also served as president of the Vienna Jewish Community, chaired the Volksbibliothek (Jewish National Library), and led the Working Palestine in Austria. He was active in the Hakoah Vienna sports club, heading its swimming section.

After the Nazis rose to power in Austria, he supported Youth Aliyah, helping Jews move to Palestine. In 1939 he made aliyah to Mandate Palestine and, after 1938, most of his social and political work shifted to Israel. He helped found the New Aliyah Party and was a member of the Assembly of Representatives. He settled in Haifa and worked as head of the inhabitants registry in the Ministry of Internal Affairs until his death. Goldhammer died in Haifa on 18 July 1949 after suffering from a brain tumor.