HOFFMANN, JACOB

HOFFMANN, JACOB (1891–1943), revisionist leader. Born in Yelizavetgrad (now Kirovograd), Russia, Hoffmann was the Zionist disciple of V. Tiomkin , who resided in that city. He studied medicine at the universities of Berne and Dorpat. In his student days he was active in the student organization, He-Ḥaver . He served as a medical officer in the Czarist army in World War I and was one of the few Jews to be awarded a military distinction. In 1920 Hoffmann settled in Riga, Latvia, where in 1923 he was instrumental in founding the Zionist students' association, Hashmonai, the union of Zionist activists (1923), which in fact became the first branch of the Revisionist movement; and the first group of betar (Berit Trumpeldor). He worked on behalf of the jewish National Fund in Latvia and was one of the founders of Dos Folk, a Yiddish newspaper, and of the Ha-Ko'aḥ sports organization. At vladimir jabotinsky 's invitation, he moved to Paris and headed the organizational department of the Revisionist movement. In 1934 he settled in Palestine. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Remba, Ke-Fi she-Hikkartim (1959), 231–41; Yahadut Latvia (1953), 426–8. (Getzel Kressel)