Chaim Weizmann

“My greatest difficulty is to watch and see all the mistakes that are being made in this country. You see, the Jews are a small people, a very small people quantitatively, but also a great people that builds and destroys. A people of genius and, at the same time, a people of enormous stupidity.”

This is the first, comprehensive, one-volume biography of the extraordinary man who more than any other was responsible for the creation of the State of Israel.

Chaim Weizmann, David Ben-Gurion once said, was “the most gifted and fascinating envoy the Jewish people ever produced”.

But his life reveals far more than this central diplomatic and political achievement. Weizmann was born in the Pale of Settlement in 1874 and died in Israel in 1952; his life therefore in many ways embodies Jewish history in the first half of this century.

Norman Rose, a professor at Hebrew University, where Weizmann was professor for several years, gives a colourful account of a great leader: from his shtetl youth in Russia and his education in Germany, through his gradual ascension to the leadership of the World Zionist Organization, Rose documents Weizmann’s extraordinary efforts to establish a Zionist presence not only in Palestine but in world diplomacy. By the end of his life, Weizmann had realised his dream, becoming President of the State of Israel in 1948.

Rose covers brilliantly all the facets of Weizmann’s extraordinary career: the passionate young man fighting to win over existing Zionists; the chemistry professor; and the campaigner for the creation of a Jewish home on Arab land.

Weizmann became a consummate diplomat who came to move with ease in the highest circles of the British government, who numbered among his friends and supporters men such as Churchill, Balfour and Lloyd George. He was the Zionist leader who gained President Wilson’s support for the Balfour Declaration and who was influential in persuading Harry Truman to support the Jewish state.

Of particular interest are the chapters recounting Weizmann’s work in the 1930s and 1940s as the threat of war and annihilation made the establishment of a Jewish homeland ever more difficult, yet ever more urgent. He recounts Weizmann’s triumphs and setbacks material from letters, speeches and other archival documents.

Chaim Weizmann: A Biography therefore constitutes not only a portrait of world Jewry’s uncrowned king, but also an important contribution to modern diplomatic and political history. 

Norman Rose was born in England. He now lives in Israel and teaches history at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, where he holds the Chaim Weizmann Chair of International Relations. His previous books include biographies of Winston Churchill and Harold Nicolson.

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