About Max Nordau
Max Simon Nordau was a Jewish Zionist leader, physician, author, and social critic. He was a co-founder of the Zionist Organization together with Theodor Herzl, and president or vice-president of several Zionist congresses. The first, which Nordau organized, was in Basle, 29–31 August 1897. Herzl obviously took centre stage, making the first speech at the Congress; Nordau followed him with an assessment of the Jewish condition in Europe. There has been a literary Nordau Prize awarded in Israel. He fought against the tradition of seeing the Jews as merchants or business people, arguing that most modern financial innovations, such as insurance, had been invented by gentiles.
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