Shmaryahu Levin

Shmaryahu Levin (Russian: Шмарьяху Левин; born 1867 in Svislach, Minsk Governorate; died 9 June 1935, Haifa), was a Jewish Zionist activist. He was a member of the first elected Russian Parliament in 1906.

Shmarya Levin
Born	Shmaryahu Levin Mar 23, 1867 Svislach, Belarus
Died	Jun 9, 1935 Haifa, Israel[citation needed]
Nationality	Israeli
Other names	Shmarya Levin
Occupation(s)	Russian Zionist Leader, Politician
Signature

Biography

Levin, originally from Svisloch, Belorussia, became involved with Hovevei Zion during his early years. A follower of Ahad HaAm, as a young man, he and Leo Motzkin created the union of Jewish students in Russia during their time at university in Berlin. He wrote for Hebrew publications like Ha-Shilo'ah and Yiddish ones such as Der Yud and Der Fraynd.^[1]

Shmaryahu Levin served as a crown rabbi in the towns of Grodno (1896–97) and Ekaterinoslav (Dnipropetrovsk) from 1898 to 1904.^[2]

At the Sixth Zionist Congress in 1903, Levin was a prominent opponent of the Uganda Scheme. He also co-founded the League for the Attainment of Equal Rights for the Jewish People in Russia in 1905 and served on its central board.^[3] In 1906, Levin was elected to represent the Jewish National List from Vilna in the inaugural Russian Duma.^[1]

Shortly after the First Duma's dissolution, Levin escaped from Russia for Berlin. He was chosen to be a member of the Tenth Zionist Congress (1911). He participated in the activities of the Hilfsverein der deutschen Juden in Germany and helped to found a technical university in Haifa. He encouraged American Jews to support this endeavor.^[1] However, together with Ahad Ha-Am and J. Tschlenow, Levin resigned from the Technion board of governors after their proposal to switch to teaching in Hebrew was turned down.^[3]

Bust of Shmarya Levin at the Technion

In the 1920s, Levin was a representative of the World Zionist Organization and director of the Information Department of Keren Hayesod.^[4]