Prof. Otto Warburg, former president of the World Zionist Organization and a noted botanist, died in Berlin yesterday at the age of 78 after a brief illness, according to word received here today.
A memorial meeting was held here tonight at which Prof. Selig Brodetsky paid tribute to Dr. Warburg in the name of the World Zionist Executive and Dr. Martin Rosenblueth on behalf of the German Zionists.
Dr. Warburg, who was born in Hamburg, was appointed Professor of Botany at Berlin University in 1892 and was author of several books on botany.
He became interested in Zionism in the early days of the movement, and was one of the heads of the Palestine Commission appointed by the Sixth Zionist Congress. However, he had little taste for “diplomatic Zionism” and devoted himself largely to “practical Zionism,” or colonization work in Palestine.
He was active in preparing the groundwork for the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and initiated numerous industrial and agricultural enterprises. He served as president of the World Zionist Organization from 1911 until 1920. In later life he held the positions of head of the Palestine Agricultural Experimentation Station and of the Hebrew University’s Institute of the Natural History of Palestine. Speaking at a celebration of his 70th birthday, he predicted Palestine would become a center of cultural life in the East.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
