Scholar of English literature
Leon Kellner was born in Tarnow, Galicia (now in Poland). In 1890, after teaching at various high schools, he became a lecturer in English literature at the University of Vienna. From 1904 to 1914 he was professor at the University of Czernowitz, where he also served as a representative of the Jewish-national list to the Landtag (local parliament). At the outbreak of World War I Kellner moved back to Vienna. After the war he served as an English expert in the office of the president of the Austrian Republic.
Leon Kellner became close to Theodore Herzl and served as his aide, adviser and close associate. He assisted Herzl by opening many contacts for him in England. Due to his many obligations Kellner turned down Herzl’s offer to edit the Zionist organ Die Welt. However, he published articles in it and in 1899-1900 edited the paper.
Kellner’s scholarly writings were highly appreciated. His many publications include critical editions of English texts, grammar books, an English-German, German-English dictionary, a dictionary of Shakespeare, and a history of English and American literature. He also published articles, stories and feuilletons in newspapers and periodicals in German and English. After Herzl’s death, Kellner published a selection of Herzl’s writings in two volumes. He started to write a comprehensive biography of Herzl, of which only the first part – Theodore Herzl’s Lehrjahre – was published (1920).