Theodor Herzl (; ; "Te'odor Hertsel"; ; Hebrew name given at his brit milah Binyamin Ze'ev (), also known in Hebrew as , "Chozeh HaMedinah", lit. "Visionary of the State"; 2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state. Though he died before its establishment, he is known as the father of the State of Israel.