Public lifeפליכס ולטש

Felix Weltsch

Felix Weltsch was a Prague-born Jewish philosopher, journalist, librarian and Zionist activist who later worked as a librarian in Jerusalem.

1884 to 1964Editing the Zionist weekly SelbstwehrFriendship with Franz Kafka and Max BrodWriting on ethics and politics

Born: 6 October 1884, Prague
Died: 9 November 1964, Jerusalem
Occupation: librarian, journalist, law librarian, philosopher
Education: philosophy faculty of the German university of Prague, Faculty of Law, German University in Prague

Felix Weltsch was born in 1884 in Prague

Weltsch was born in Prague, then part of Austria-Hungary, to a Jewish family. He studied law and philosophy at Charles University in Prague. He was a close friend of Max Brod and Franz Kafka, and a cousin of Robert Weltsch.

From 1910 he worked as a librarian at the university in Prague. In 1913 he published a book together with Max Brod. From 1919 he edited the Zionist weekly Selbstwehr, and he wrote on ethics, politics and philosophy.

In March 1939 he left Czechoslovakia with Max Brod and his family on the last train and moved to the Land of Israel. He settled in Jerusalem and from 1940 worked at the Jewish National and University Library. In 1952 he received the Ruppin Prize from the city of Haifa.

He married Irma Herz in 1914, and their daughter Ruth was born in 1920. His grandson is the actor Eli Gorenstein. Weltsch died in Jerusalem in 1964 and was buried at Har HaMenuchot.