Draft:A. S. Rappoport

Angelo Solomon Rappoport (1871–1950), often styled A. S. Rappoport, was a Russian-born British historian, writer, philosopher, and early Zionist. He is known both for his accessible popular works on philosophy, history, and religion, as well as for his early participation in Zionist territorial debates at the turn of the 20th century. He also worked as a translator from Russian and French to English.

Biography

Rappoport was born in 1871 in Baturyn, in the Chernigov district of Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire). He later settled in Britain and became a naturalized British citizen in 1898. In 1900, he was sent by the Alliance Israélite Universelle to investigate the Falasha (Beta Israel) community in Ethiopia. Following this mission, he moved to London, where he lectured at a university on literature and devoted himself to writing and journalism.

He died in 1950 in the United Kingdom.

Career and Works

Rappoport was a prolific and versatile author whose works spanned history, folklore, philosophy, biblical studies, and biography. His writing was praised for its clarity and appeal to general readers, making scholarly and philosophical concepts widely accessible. Among his notable works is the multi-volume History of Egypt from 330 B.C. to the Present Time (1904). His A Primer of Philosophy (1904) offers a concise introduction to philosophical themes and was later translated into Arabic by prominent Egyptian intellectual Ahmad Amin in 1918. He frequently published in English but was known across Europe and the Middle East through translations of his work.

Zionist Activities and Sudan Proposal

Rappoport played a little-known but notable role in the early Zionist movement. According to historian Jacob M. Landau, in 1900 Rappoport—then residing in Cairo—proposed a plan for Jewish settlement in Sudan to Lord Cromer, the British Consul-General in Egypt. This plan was conceived amid broader debates within the Zionist movement regarding alternative homelands for Jews outside Palestine, especially among proponents of Territorialism. Rappoport's approach reflected impatience with the slow pace of immigration to Palestine and a desire to explore pragmatic alternatives.

Lord Cromer, skeptical of experimental settlements in Egyptian-ruled territories and recalling earlier failures (e.g., near Aqaba in the 1890s), ultimately rejected the proposal, deeming it unfeasible. No official documentation was forwarded to the Foreign Office, and the proposal faded from consideration.

Rappoport was also involved in several early Zionist Congresses. He served as a delegate to the Third Zionist Congress (1899), likely representing Korszówka, near his birthplace. He later attended the Fourth Zionist Congress in London as a delegate from Nikolaev and participated in the Sixth Zionist Congress, where he supported the controversial Uganda Proposal—a plan to establish a Jewish homeland in British East Africa. His vote aligned with his earlier Sudan initiative and highlights his alignment with the Territorialist strand within Zionism.

Following the Sixth Congress, Rappoport appears to have withdrawn from active Zionist political life. While this may have been due to his increasing focus on scholarship and publishing in Britain, it is also consistent with his leanings toward the Jewish Territorial Organization (JTO), which advocated for Jewish settlement options outside of Palestine and was headquartered in London.

Selected Bibliography

• A Primer of Philosophy (1904) — Philosophy
• History of Egypt from 330 B.C. to the Present Time (multi-volume, 1904) — History
• The English Drama (1906) – Literature
• Tolstoy: His Life, Works, and Doctrine (1908) — Biography
• Pioneers of the Russian Revolution (1918) — History
• The Sea: Myths and Legends (1928) — Folklore
• Myth and Legend of Ancient Israel (1928) — Folklore
• The Psalms in Life, Legend, and Literature (1935) — Biblical commentary
• The Folklore of the Jew (1937) - Folklore

References

• Landau, Jacob M. Middle Eastern Themes: Papers in History and Politics. London: Frank Cass, 1973
• Amin, Ahmad. My Life: The Autobiography of an Egyptian Scholar, Writer, and Cultural Leader. Translated from the Arabic by Issa J. Boullata. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1978.

This page will be placed in the following categories if it is moved to the article namespace.

Categories:

• 1871 births
• 1950 deaths
• British writers
• British philosophers
• Historians
• Russian emigrants to the United Kingdom
• Zionist history
• Jewish philosophers
• Jewish historians
• Jewish writers
• Translators from Russian