Zvi Hermann Schapira - Three Early Portrait Photographs

Zvi Hermann Schapira - Three Early Portrait Photographs
Three portrait photographs of Zvi Hermann Schapira (1840-1898) a Jewish-Lithuanian intellectual, one of the first members of "Hovevei Zion" and the political Zionist movement, founder of the JNF and advocate of the idea to found a Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Heidelberg, Berlin and Odessa, [ca. 1870s].
A hand-signed dedication from 1874 appears on one of the photos, to Mrs. Klara Blanc, who Schapira married two years later.
Zvi Hermann Schapira's talent for biblical studies was apparent at a young age, and he was ordained as rabbi and head of a Yeshiva in Lithuania at the age of 24. Two years later he turned to secular studies and started to study mathematics. Inspired by the idea of the Haskala Movement, he left Lithuania and the rabbinic world. He lived in Vilnius, Odessa, Berlin and Heidelberg. Later on he became acquainted with the Zionist movement. Schapira published articles dealing with settlement in Eretz Israel, founded in Heidelberg a Jewish society by the name "Zion" dedicated to distribution of Jewish language and literature and realization of the idea of Jewish settlement in Eretz Israel. At the 1884 Katovitz convention, Schapira suggested that "Hovevei Zion" establish a fund to acquire lands in Eretz Israel, but his suggestion was turned down. Thirteen years later, at the first Zionist Congress, he submitted a detailed blueprint to found the Jewish National Fund. This time his initiative was accepted but he passed away before the idea was fully realized. During the same Congress he submitted his initiative to found a Hebrew University in Jerusalem.Three photos, ca. 6X9 cm. Mounted on cardboard. Good condition. Slightly faded. Two of the photos are titled by hand, on the reverse (in Hebrew).