Jabotinsky's Autobiography: A Sionist Icon Revisited

The French translation of Vladimir Zeev Jabotinsky's unfinished autobiography, 'Histoire de ma vie,' published by Éd. les Provinciales, offers a rare portrait of the Sionist leader. Born in Odessa in 1880 and died in New York in 1940, Jabotinsky is described as a major figure of political Sionism after Theodor Herzl, yet largely forgotten. The book reveals him as a writer admired by Gorki and Nina Berberova, author of the novel 'Les Cinq,' and translator of Baudelaire and Dante. He formed a Jewish battalion during WWI, theorized the 'iron wall,' and drafted the Helsingfors program advocating minority rights, including for Arabs in Israel. The text contrasts his militant stance with the passive victim image of Jews, arguing that philosemitism can turn into antisemitism when Jews defend themselves. Jabotinsky warned of catastrophe in the 1930s, proposing Hitler's assassination and evacuation of Polish Jews, but was ignored. The autobiography covers his life up to 1917, offering a picaresque journey through pre-WWI Europe and early Sionist circles.