(ZIONISM)

Two important and complimenting biographies. This, a significant association copy. Eliezer Ben-Yehudah (1858-1922) was the founder of Modern Hebrew. His son Itamar Ben-Avi (1882-1943) was the first child whose mother tongue was Modern Hebrew. In maturity, he adopted the surname Ben-Av”i, “Son of Eliezer Ben-Yehudah” in acronymic form. From 1924, he was editor of the English-language daily Palestine Weekly. Despite a brief flirtation with religion, at which point he entered into dialogue with various rabbinic figures in Eretz Israel, Ben-Avi very much resembled his father in terms of his often radical and innovative approach to issues. Thus, he advocated that Modern Hebrew be written in Latin - rather than - Hebrew characters. (Ataturk, founder of modern Turkey, did the same for Turkish, which had formerly been written in Arabic characters.) See EJ, IV cols.469-70; 564-9 Chemdah Ben-Yehudah (1873-1951) was Eliezer’s second wife, sister of his deceased first wife Deborah. Chemdah greatly aided her husband in his literary work, both during his lifetime and after his demise