Martin Buber was a philosopher known first and foremost for his book  Ich und Du. In his book Buber promotes personal and intimate dialogue between people (I-You), and rejects alien impersonal dialogue (I-It). 

Buber was born to an observant Jewish family, but chose to study philosophy. In 1930, he became an honorary Professor at Frankfurt am-Main, from which he resigned immediately after Hitler's rise to power.

In 1938, Buber immigrated to Israel and was appointed to a professorship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Although an avid Zionist, Buber endorsed Humanistic Zionism which differed significantly from Herzl's Zionism. Buber fought for Arab rights in Palestine, and supported the establishment of an Arab-Jewish State.