Theodor Herzl (/ˈhɜːrtsəl, ˈhɛərtsəl/;German: [ˈhɛɐtsl̩]; Hebrew: תֵּאוֹדוֹר הֶרְצְל, Te'odor Hertzel; Hungarian: Herzl Tivadar; 2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) or Hebrew name given at his brit milah Binyamin Ze'ev, 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.