Chaim Weizmann, the Forgotten Founder: A Conversation with Jehuda Reinharz

Apr 15, 2021 07:00 PM

When the great biochemist Chaim Weizmann was elected president of Israel in 1949, he had been a key figure in Zionist politics for five decades. In fact, as historian Jehuda Reinharz has shown in his magisterial three-volume biography, it is virtually impossible to imagine the founding of the State of Israel without his ceaseless diplomacy. The third volume of that biography was published last year in Israel to great acclaim and some controversy (Weizmann, it turns out, wasn’t perfect), and it will be out in English next year. Sign up for our JRB Conversation with Professor Reinharz on Thursday evening, April 15, for a deep dive into the life of the indispensable (but sometimes overlooked) founder of Israel, Chaim Weizmann.

Professor Reinharz, who, as you know, was president of Brandeis University for 17 years and now heads up the Mandel Foundation, knows something about leadership himself. That knowledge, along with his deep archival research, gives him unique insights into Weizmann’s remarkable career. I think you’ll enjoy our conversation, and I know Jehuda is looking forward to your questions.

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