Vladimir (Ze’ev) Yevhenievych Zhabotinsky was one of the most prominent figures of the Jewish national revival. A writer and author of the novels The Five, The Song of the Legion, and Samson the Nazarite; a publicist, feuilletonist, poet, playwright, translator, brilliant orator, and polyglot, Zhabotinsky became a leader of the Zionist movement, the ideologist and founder of Revisionist Zionism. He participated in the creation of the Jewish Legion together with Yosef Trumpeldor, organized the first Jewish self-defense units in Jerusalem, headed the Haganah in Mandatory Palestine, and founded the youth Zionist organization Betar.
Early YearsVladimir Zhabotinsky was born on 17 October 1880 in Odesa. He studied at a Russian gymnasium. At first, he showed little interest in Jewish national issues and appeared primarily as a Russian-language writer. At the age of 17, Zhabotinsky translated Edgar Allan Poe’s poem The Raven, producing what came to be regarded as the best Russian translation of the work.
At 18, Zhabotinsky became a foreign correspondent for the newspapers Odeskyi Listok and Odeski Novyny, first in Bern and later in Rome. This experience allowed him to deepen his knowledge of European culture and social issues.
Creative PathReturning to Odesa in 1901, Zhabotinsky joined the editorial board and became the leading feuilletonist of Odeski Novyny, signing his texts with the pseudonym Altalena (Italian for “swing”). His plays were staged at the Odesa City Theatre.
Zhabotinsky was an active member of the Literary and Artistic Society — a haven of free thought located in the mansion that now houses the Odesa Literary Museum. He was first arrested in 1902 on charges of possessing “forbidden” literature, and again in 1904 after speaking at a rally.
The Jewish pogroms of 1903–1905 awakened his national consciousness and led him to Zionism. He joined the Jewish self-defense organization and, together with Meir Dizengoff, raised funds to purchase weapons. In 1904 he translated Chaim Nachman Bialik’s Report on a Pogrom into Russian. Published only in 1911, it had a profound impact on the Russian-speaking Jewish public and secured Bialik’s place among Russian literary figures. By 1917, the translation had been reprinted seven times, including once in Odesa.
In 1911, Zhabotinsky founded the Odesa publishing house Turgeman (“Translator”), which published major works of world literature in Hebrew translation. Between 1910 and 1913, he led efforts to make Hebrew the language of instruction in Jewish schools. The idea was supported by the Tarbut organization, despite opposition from the Russian Zionist Union.
In the 1912 elections to the Third and Fourth State Duma, Zhabotinsky ran in Odesa as a candidate of the Progressive National Bloc and received substantial support. He opposed the socialist ideas popular among Zionists, advocating liberal and democratic values and foreseeing developments his contemporaries failed to grasp.
Zhabotinsky travelled widely — to Constantinople, Vienna, and St. Petersburg — always returning to Odesa, where his son Eri was born. His mother and sister lived at 43 Zhukovsky Street.
Later Years and LegacyZhabotinsky visited Odesa for the last time in the summer of 1915. Though he loved the city deeply, he could return to it only in the pages of his books. His lyrical novel The Five (Paris, 1936) is still read as a declaration of love to Odesa and its inhabitants.
Vladimir Zhabotinsky died on 4 August 1940 in New York during a lecture tour, calling on the Allies to enlist more Jews into their armies to fight Nazism. In his will, he stipulated that his remains be transferred to an independent Jewish state only upon a decision of its government, confident that such a state would one day be created.

Zhabotinsky with his wife and son