Alfred Nossig
| Alfred Nossig | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 18 April 1864 Lemberg |
| Died | 22 February 1943 (aged 78) Warsaw |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Occupation | Sculptor |
Alfred Nossig (1864–1943) was a Jewish sculptor, musician, writer, and public activist.
Alfred Nossig was born in 1864 to a wealthy family in Lemberg (now called Lviv), which was then part of the Austrian Empire but is now in Ukraine. Nossig's father exposed him to German culture and was an activist for Jewish rights in Galicia, serving as secretary of the Jewish community there.
In the early 1880s, Polish romanticism inspired Nossig to formulate ideas about liberating Jewish culture from the constraints of tradition, causing him to express these ideas in the periodical Ojczyzna (The Fatherland) and in an organization (which he himself founded) called Przymierze Braci (Union of Brothers). He was a pioneer in the field of Jewish demography during his time as a student at Lemberg University, winning a prize in 1884 from the university senate for his essay "O ludności" (On Population). During this time, Nossig also wrote theater reviews for Polish and Jewish newspapers, and in 1888, he published his first collection of poems, Poezje, which won a competition in Warsaw. In 1887, Nossig published the first Zionist work in the Polish language; it was titled "An Attempt to Solve the Jewish Problem" (Próba rozwiązania kwestji źydowskiej), and in it, he argued that there is no future for the Jews in the Diaspora and that thus, Jews must establish their own independent state in Palestine and adjacent countries. After his studies in Lemberg, Nossig pursued a doctorate in Zurich, Switzerland, concentrating on Spinoza.
Nossig was a participant in the first World Zionist Congresses but soon ran into conflict with Theodore Herzl due to Nossig's individualistic character. Nevertheless, Nossig continued to advocate in favor of Zionism and Jewish emigration for the rest of his life. In 1920, he was invited by the Polish government to mediate and create trust between it and Polish Jewish leaders; however, Nossig was unsuccessful in this task.
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