Presentation of the book “On Theodor Herzl’s encounters with Zionist thought and efforts prior to his conversion in the spring of 1895” by Philip Earl Steele (Series of the Centre for Historical Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Berlin: Polish, German, and Austrian Jews and the modern idea of Israel, volume 1)
When: 4 June 2024 at 6 pm
Where: Touro University Berlin
Where: Touro University Berlin
Am Rupenhorn 5
14055 Berlin
14055 Berlin
The colloquium will be held in English language!
The presentation is a part of the „Klaus Zernack Colloquium” and is organized by Touro University Berlin and the Centre for Historical Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Berlin.
The book “On Theodor Herzl’s encounters with Zionist thought and efforts prior to his conversion in the spring of 1895” by Philip Earl Steele may aptly be hailed as the first genuine breakthrough in Herzl studies in 30 years, i.e., since the work of Jacques Kornberg, “Theodor Herzl: From Assimilation to Zionism” from 1993. As Professor Derek Penslar, Harvard University, wrote in his review of Steele’s manuscript, “Steele’s reading does not in any way lessen Herzl’s unique contributions to the early Zionist movement, but precisely by focusing on concealment rather than revelation it exposes previously opaque aspects of Herzl’s persona … In sum, this is a masterful, responsible, and illuminating piece of scholarship that merits wide distribution and discussion”. This was underlined by Herzl’s biographer Dr. Steven Beller, who in his own review wrote, “That Steele’s monograph has led me, an author who has also had to investigate and understand the complex mind of Herzl, to such a disquisition on this central question of how much Herzl’s thought was original or not, is an indication, I think, of how powerful Steele’s work is, and how much it will set other scholars of Herzl and Zionism thinking”.
Philip Earl Steele is an American scholar based in Poland. He specialises in early medieval history and 19th century Zionism. His book on Poland’s Christian beginnings in the 10th century (Nawrócenie i chrzest Mieszka I, 1st ed., 2005, 2nd ed., 2016) was a bestseller.
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Stephan Lehnstaedt received his PhD from Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich (LMU) in 2008 and his Habilitation (Neuere und Neueste Geschichte) from Technische Universität Chemnitz in 2016. From 2005-2009 he worked at Institut für Zeitgeschichte Munich and from 2010-2016 at the German Historical Institute Warsaw. As a Guest Teacher, he served at LMU (2008-10), at Humboldt University Berlin and at the London School of Economics (both 2013/14). In April 2016, he joined Touro College Berlin as Professor for Holocaust Studies and Jewish Studies.
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