Ahad ha-Am (Asher Hirsch Ginsberg, 1856–1927) was a Hebrew essayist, thinker, and leader of Ḥibbat Zion movement. Ahad ha-Am was born in Skvira, Kiev Province in Russia. He received a traditional Jewish education in the home of his father, a Ḥasid who was a wealthy village merchant. He studied Talmud and medieval philosophy with a private teacher, and was deeply influenced by Maimonides' Guide to the Perplexed. He read the literature of the Haskalah, and studied Russian, German, French, English, and Latin – independently. After his marriage in 1873, he continued his studies, particularly philosophy and science, at home. He tried several times to enter a university, but family obligations and his unwillingness to meet certain formal requirements disrupted his academic plans and he remained self-taught. As a result of powerful rationalist tendencies he first gave up Ḥasidism and then abandoned all religious faith. Ahad ha-Am’s works not only influenced his disciples and admirers, but also prompted debates and criticism which fertilized modern Jewish thought to the extent that every stream in Zionism has been influenced by the challenge of his writings. After the establishment of the State of Israel, his doctrines, both political and theoretical, were submitted to renewed criticism, but his essays are still studied and are an influential factor in Jewish thought both in the Diaspora and Israel. One of the most influential authors and thinkers of his generation, his articles and essays constitute one of the major achievements of modern Hebrew literature.