Yechiel Tschlenow

Yechiel Tschlenow
יחיאל צ'לנוב
Born	October 27, 1863 Kremenchug, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
Died	October 30, 1918 (aged 55) London, United Kingdom
Nationality	Russian
Occupation(s)	Physician, Zionist leader
Known for	Leading figure in the Zionist movement, member of the World Zionist Organization
Spouse	Rivka Ratner
Children	Avraham, Alka, Shafra

Yechiel Tschlenow (Hebrew: יחיאל צ'לנוב; October 27, 1863 – October 30, 1918), also known as Yechiel Chlenov, was a Russian-Jewish physician and a leading figure in the early Zionist movement. He played a key role in the opposition to the Uganda Plan at the Sixth Zionist Congress and was instrumental in the development of practical Zionism, advocating for Jewish agricultural settlement in Palestine. Tschlenow contributed to key Zionist milestones, including the founding of the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and was involved in negotiations leading to the Balfour Declaration.

Yechiel Tschlenow

Early life and education

Yechiel Tschlenow was born on October 27, 1863, in Kremenchug, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire, into a well-to-do Hasidic family. His father, Zeev Chlenov, was a Rabbi and social activist. In 1876, the family moved to Moscow, where Tschlenow received both Jewish and secular education. He studied medicine at Moscow University, graduating in 1888. Tschlenow initially sympathized with the revolutionary populists but turned to Jewish nationalism after the pogroms of 1881.

Career

Tschlenow's involvement in the Zionist movement began in the early 1880s. In 1884, he co-founded the Bnei Zion group in Moscow alongside figures such as Menachem Ussishkin, Jacob Mazeh, and Abraham Idelson. Initially skeptical of Theodor Herzl’s Zionist Organization, Tschlenow became an ardent supporter after attending the Second Zionist Congress in 1898.

Leaders of the Zionist movement in Russia, taken during the Minsk Conference in 1902. (Yechiel Tschlenov seated third from right).

Tschlenow was a key figure in the opposition to the Uganda Plan during the Sixth Zionist Congress in 1903. The plan, proposed by Theodor Herzl, sought to establish a temporary Jewish homeland in Uganda (modern-day Kenya). Tschlenow, along with 128 other delegates, walked out in protest after the plan passed, believing that it undermined the goal of establishing a Jewish homeland in Palestine. His opposition was further solidified through a series of articles titled Zion and Africa, published in the Zionist press.

Following the Uganda controversy, Tschlenow advocated for practical Zionism, which emphasized immediate Jewish settlement in Palestine through agricultural development and land purchases. He demonstrated support for the Odessa Committee. He was also a proponent of the Helsingfors Program adopted at the Helsingfors Conference in 1906, which tied political Zionism to practical settlement work. Tschlenow believed that the redemption of land in Palestine was essential to achieving Jewish statehood. In 1909, Tschlenow organized a group of Russian Jewish investors to establish the settlement of Migdal on the shores of Lake Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).

Tschlenow's role in the Zionist movement expanded further with his election to the board of the Jewish Colonial Trust and the Zionist Executive during the Tenth Zionist Congress in 1911. He was appointed vice president of the Zionist Executive under Otto Warburg at the Eleventh Zionist Congress in 1913. During this time, he moved to Berlin, where he directed much of the Zionist movement's activities.

Tschlenow during his visit to Rishon LeZion, 1912.

Tschlenow made multiple visits to Palestine. In 1912, he laid the cornerstone for the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. He was also involved in the purchase of land where Hadassah Hospital in Tel Aviv would later be built.

At the outbreak of World War I, Tschlenow was forced to leave Berlin and returned to Russia in 1915. He worked to assist Jewish refugees displaced by the war and continued to support Zionist activities. By 1917, after the Russian Revolution, Tschlenow presided over the All-Russian Zionist Convention in Petrograd. Later that year, Tschlenow traveled to London, where he participated in negotiations that culminated in the Balfour Declaration. His contributions to the political maneuvering that led to the Declaration were instrumental in securing international recognition for Zionist aims.

Death and legacy

Drawing of Chaim Weizmann, Tschlenow, and Nahum Sokolow, 1942

Tschlenow passed away in London on October 30, 1918, at the age of 55. His remains were reinterred in 1961 in the old cemetery in Tel Aviv. Streets in many Israeli cities are named in his honor.

Books and publications

Tschlenow was also an author, contributing to the Zionist discourse through various articles and writings. Among his notable works are:

• The Second Zionist Congress
• Zion and Africa (1905)
• Five Years of Work in Palestine (1913)
• The World and Our Prospects (1917)

He also co-authored the book Fünf Jahre der Arbeit in Palästina.