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{{short description|American dramatist}}
{{BLP sources|date=June 2014}}

'''Meyer Wolf Weisgal''' (November 10, 1894 – September 29, 1977) was a [[Jewish]] American [[journalist]], [[publisher]], [[playwright]], [[fundraiser]], and [[Zionist]] activist who served as the President of the [[Weizmann Institute of Science]] and as the founding President of [[Beit Hatfutsot]] (the Jewish Diaspora Museum).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jta.org/1977/09/30/archive/meyer-w-weisgal-dead-at-83|title=Meyer W. Weisgal Dead at 83|author=<!-- Staff -->|work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]|date=1977-09-30|accessdate=2014-06-09}}</ref>
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| native_name = מאיר וייסגל
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| birth_name = Meyer Wolf Weisgal
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1894|11|10}}
| birth_place = [[Kikół]], [[Płock Governorate]], [[Congress Poland]], [[Russian Empire]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1977|9|29|1894|11|10}}
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| alma_mater = [[Columbia University]]
| occupation = [[journalist]], [[publisher]], [[playwright]], [[fundraiser]], and [[Zionist]] activist
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*President of the [[Weizmann Institute of Science]]
*founding President of [[Beit Hatfutsot]] (the Jewish Diaspora Museum)
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'''Meyer Wolf Weisgal''' ('''מאיר וולף וייסגאל / וייסגל''';<ref>{{Cite web|title=Meyer Wolf Weisgal (1894-1977)|url=https://data.bnf.fr/fr/12757050/meyer_wolf_weisgal/|access-date=2021-01-22|website=data.bnf.fr}}</ref> November 10, 1894 – September 29, 1977) was an American [[journalist]], [[publisher]], [[playwright]], [[fundraiser]], and [[Zionist]] activist who served as the President of the [[Weizmann Institute of Science]] and as the founding President of [[Beit Hatfutsot]] (the Jewish Diaspora Museum).<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jta.org/1977/09/30/archive/meyer-w-weisgal-dead-at-83|title=Meyer W. Weisgal Dead at 83|author=<!-- Staff -->|work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]|date=1977-09-30|access-date=2014-06-09}}</ref>


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
[[File:Meyer Weisgal and his wife - 19571002.jpg|thumb|240px|Meyer Weisgal and his wife, 1957]]
Born in the [[Pale of Settlement]], he emigrated to [[New York City]], US with his parents at age 11, where he finished high school and studied journalism at [[Columbia University]]. He married Shirley (née Hirshfeld) in 1923.
Meyer Wolf Weisgal was born in [[Kikół]], [[Congress Poland]], in the [[Pale of Settlement]]. He emigrated to [[New York City]], US in 1905 with his parents at age 11, where he finished high school at [[Morris High School (Bronx)|Morris High School]] in [[the Bronx]] and studied journalism at [[Columbia University]].<ref>[https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/weisgal-meyer-wolf "WEISGAL, MEYER WOLF"]</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_T86WsX-dkC&q=+%22high+school%22&pg=PA28 |title=Meyer Weisgal ... So Far: An Autobiography - Meyer Wolfe Weisgal|isbn=9781412850056|access-date=2020-02-21|last1=Weisgal|first1=Meyer Wolfe|publisher=Transaction Publishers }}</ref> He married Shirley (née Hirshfeld) in 1923.


Meyer and Shirley Weisgal lived on the grounds of the Weizmann Institute and are buried there, near the Chaim Weizmann House.
In 1926, he published the first English translation of the works of [[Chaim Nachman Bialik]]. In 1932, he saw stage success with the play "The romance of a people", and he continued to produce stage plays from then on.
==Literary and journalism career==
In 1926, he published the first English translation of the works of [[Chaim Nachman Bialik]]. In 1932, he saw stage success with the play "The romance of a people", and he continued to produce stage plays from then on. He conceived the [[opera]]-[[oratorio]] ''[[The Eternal Road (opera)|The Eternal Road]]'' to alert the then-ignorant public to [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]'s persecution of the Jews in 1937 Germany. Weisgal enlisted the help of director [[Max Reinhardt]], who approached [[Kurt Weill]] to write the music, and Austrian novelist and playwright [[Franz Werfel]] to write the [[libretto]] for ''[[The Eternal Road (opera)|The Eternal Road]]'' (originally in German: ''{{Lang|de|Der Weg der Verheißung}}''), translated into English by [[Ludwig Lewisohn]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.americansymphony.org/dialogue.php?id=272 |title=Leon Botstein, "Kings and Prophecies: A Road of Promise" on americansymphony.org |access-date=2016-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610070332/http://www.americansymphony.org/dialogue.php?id=272 |archive-date=2011-06-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


Together with [[Louis Lipsky]] he edited the journal ''The Maccabean''-magazine, later The ''[[New Palestine (magazine)]]'', which contributed its important part for the success of [[Chaim Weizmann]]'s [[Zionist]] policy after the [[Balfour Declaration]]. And he, "as editor, conceived and published two notable supplements, which remain as permanent reference works today: In 1925 a supplement on the Hebrew University, then in establishment; in 1929 a supplement on Theodor Herzl, founder of the modern Zionism". (Biographical notes from the Weizmann Institute, p.&nbsp;3),<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il/~oded/X/mw2.pdf | title=Biographical Notes on Meyer W. Weisgal | access-date=2024-06-23 | website=www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il}}</ref> See also the series about him on Brouillon, part 4:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://brouillon.art/2018/01/19/meyer-wolf-weisgal-the-man-who-brought-reinhardt-weill-and-werfel-to-new-york-4/ |title=Meyer Wolf Weisgal: The man who brought Reinhardt, Weill and Werfel to New York (4) |publisher=Brouillon.art |date=2017-12-02 |access-date=2020-02-21}}</ref>
<references group="3. Biographical Notes from the Weizmann Institute, p 3" />

==Zionist activism==
From 1921 until 1930, he was the first head of the [[Zionist Organization of America]]. Through the [[World Zionist Organization]] he came in close contact with its chair [[Chaim Weizmann]] and acted as his personal representative since 1940. In 1944, he started an initiative for expanding the Daniel Sieff Research Institute (led by Weizmann) into what would become a leading multidisciplinary research university: this opened its doors on November 2, 1949, as the [[Weizmann Institute of Science]]. He served as its Chairman of the Executive Council 1949–1966 and as its President 1966–1969. Subsequently, he served as the founding President of the [[Beit Hatfutsot|Diaspora Museum]] in Tel-Aviv.
From 1921 until 1930, he was the first head of the [[Zionist Organization of America]]. Through the [[World Zionist Organization]] he came in close contact with its chair [[Chaim Weizmann]] and acted as his personal representative since 1940. In 1944, he started an initiative for expanding the Daniel Sieff Research Institute (led by Weizmann) into what would become a leading multidisciplinary research university: this opened its doors on November 2, 1949, as the [[Weizmann Institute of Science]]. He served as its Chairman of the Executive Council 1949–1966 and as its President 1966–1969. Subsequently, he served as the founding President of the [[Beit Hatfutsot|Diaspora Museum]] in Tel-Aviv.



Meyer and Shirley Weisgal lived on the grounds of the Weizmann Institute and are buried there, near the Chaim Weizmann House.


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{cite book |last=Weisgal |first=Meyer |author-link=Meyer Weisgal |date=1972 |title=Meyer Weisgal ... so far; an autobiography |url=https://archive.org/stream/meyerweisgalsofa0000weis/meyerweisgalsofa0000weis_djvu.txt |isbn=9780297993735 |oclc=16204852 |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |location=London}}

{{Presidents of Weizmann Institute of Science}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


{{Persondata
| NAME = Weisgal, Meyer
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American publisher
| DATE OF BIRTH = November 10, 1894
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH = September 29, 1977
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weisgal, Meyer}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weisgal, Meyer}}
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1894 births]]
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Lipno County]]
[[Category:People from Płock Governorate]]
[[Category:Emigrants from Congress Poland to the United States]]
[[Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American publishers (people)]]
[[Category:American publishers (people)]]
[[Category:Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni]]
[[Category:American Zionists]]
[[Category:American Zionists]]
[[Category:Jewish American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Jewish American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Presidents of universities in Israel]]

[[Category:20th-century American Jews]]

{{Judaism-bio-stub}}

Latest revision as of 19:56, 23 June 2024

Meyer Weisgal
מאיר וייסגל
Meyer Weisgal
Born
Meyer Wolf Weisgal

(1894-11-10)November 10, 1894
Kikół, Płock Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
DiedSeptember 29, 1977(1977-09-29) (aged 82)
Alma materColumbia University
Occupation(s)journalist, publisher, playwright, fundraiser, and Zionist activist
Known for

Meyer Wolf Weisgal (מאיר וולף וייסגאל / וייסגל;[1] November 10, 1894 – September 29, 1977) was an American journalist, publisher, playwright, fundraiser, and Zionist activist who served as the President of the Weizmann Institute of Science and as the founding President of Beit Hatfutsot (the Jewish Diaspora Museum).[2]

Biography

[edit]
Meyer Weisgal and his wife, 1957

Meyer Wolf Weisgal was born in Kikół, Congress Poland, in the Pale of Settlement. He emigrated to New York City, US in 1905 with his parents at age 11, where he finished high school at Morris High School in the Bronx and studied journalism at Columbia University.[3][4] He married Shirley (née Hirshfeld) in 1923.

Meyer and Shirley Weisgal lived on the grounds of the Weizmann Institute and are buried there, near the Chaim Weizmann House.

Literary and journalism career

[edit]

In 1926, he published the first English translation of the works of Chaim Nachman Bialik. In 1932, he saw stage success with the play "The romance of a people", and he continued to produce stage plays from then on. He conceived the opera-oratorio The Eternal Road to alert the then-ignorant public to Hitler's persecution of the Jews in 1937 Germany. Weisgal enlisted the help of director Max Reinhardt, who approached Kurt Weill to write the music, and Austrian novelist and playwright Franz Werfel to write the libretto for The Eternal Road (originally in German: Der Weg der Verheißung), translated into English by Ludwig Lewisohn.[5]

Together with Louis Lipsky he edited the journal The Maccabean-magazine, later The New Palestine (magazine), which contributed its important part for the success of Chaim Weizmann's Zionist policy after the Balfour Declaration. And he, "as editor, conceived and published two notable supplements, which remain as permanent reference works today: In 1925 a supplement on the Hebrew University, then in establishment; in 1929 a supplement on Theodor Herzl, founder of the modern Zionism". (Biographical notes from the Weizmann Institute, p. 3),[6] See also the series about him on Brouillon, part 4:[7]


Zionist activism

[edit]

From 1921 until 1930, he was the first head of the Zionist Organization of America. Through the World Zionist Organization he came in close contact with its chair Chaim Weizmann and acted as his personal representative since 1940. In 1944, he started an initiative for expanding the Daniel Sieff Research Institute (led by Weizmann) into what would become a leading multidisciplinary research university: this opened its doors on November 2, 1949, as the Weizmann Institute of Science. He served as its Chairman of the Executive Council 1949–1966 and as its President 1966–1969. Subsequently, he served as the founding President of the Diaspora Museum in Tel-Aviv.


References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Meyer Wolf Weisgal (1894-1977)". data.bnf.fr. Retrieved 2021-01-22.
  2. ^ "Meyer W. Weisgal Dead at 83". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1977-09-30. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  3. ^ "WEISGAL, MEYER WOLF"
  4. ^ Weisgal, Meyer Wolfe. Meyer Weisgal ... So Far: An Autobiography - Meyer Wolfe Weisgal. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 9781412850056. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  5. ^ "Leon Botstein, "Kings and Prophecies: A Road of Promise" on americansymphony.org". Archived from the original on 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2016-06-20.
  6. ^ "Biographical Notes on Meyer W. Weisgal" (PDF). www.wisdom.weizmann.ac.il. Retrieved 2024-06-23.
  7. ^ "Meyer Wolf Weisgal: The man who brought Reinhardt, Weill and Werfel to New York (4)". Brouillon.art. 2017-12-02. Retrieved 2020-02-21.

Further reading

[edit]

Weisgal, Meyer (1972). Meyer Weisgal ... so far; an autobiography. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 9780297993735. OCLC 16204852.

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