Jacobus Henricus Kann (The Hague, 12 July 1872 – Theresienstadt, 7 October 1944) was a Dutch Jewish banker and partner of the Lissa & Kann banking house. He was among the main leaders of the early Zionist Movement

Jacobus Kann
Born(1872-07-12)12 July 1872
Died4 October 1944(1944-10-04) (aged 72)
CitizenshipNetherlands
EducationFinance
Occupation(s)Banker, Diplomat (in 1923-27)
Known forPolitical Zionism
SpouseAdriana Anna Polak Daniels

Life and work

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Letter from Kann (1909)

At the Seventh Zionist Congress (1905) Kann was elected to the Executive of the World Zionist Organization (known then as the "Smaller Actions Committee"), which at the Eighth Zionist Congress (1907) was reduced to three members, Kann, Wolffsohn, and Otto Warburg. He had very cordial and close relations with David Wolffsohn, who replaced Herzl as the Zionist leader - being Wolffsohn's personal friend and strongly supporting Wolffsohn in the often uphill struggle to prove himself a worthy successor to the charismatic Herzl. Hundreds of letters exchanged between Kann and Wolfson are preserved at the Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem, testifying to the close and affectionate relations between them.[1]

Bibliography

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  • N. Sokolow, History of Zionism, 2 (1919), index
  • A. Boehm, Die Zionistische Bewegung, 1 (1935), index
  • T. Herzl, Complete Diaries, ed. and tr. by R. Patai (1960), index
  • J. Simon, in: Haaretz (March 11, 1945)
  • Joan Comay, Who´s Who in Jewish History after the Period of the Old Testament, London, Routledge, 17/08/1995, p. 213
  • Geoffrey Wigoder (Ed.), New Encyclopedia of Zionism and Israel, Tome 2, London et Toronto, Madison : Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1994, p. 787
  • M.H. Gans, Memorboek. Platenatlas van het leven der joden in Nederland van de middeleeuwen tot 1940 (6e bijgewerkte druk; Baarn 1988) 611-612

References

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  1. ^ Morderchai Eliav's biography of Wolffsohn - "David Wolffsohn, The Man and His Times - The Zionist Movement 1905-1914", published in 1977 jointly by Tel Aviv University and the World Zionist Organization - covers extensively also the life and work of Jacobus Kann, Wolffsohn's friend and associate.
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