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DANIEL SHOMRON

Real Name: Daniel Shomron

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Psychiatrist

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Gabrielle Haller, Magneto (as Magnus), Charles Xavier

Enemies: Hydra (Rudolf Kranz, Baron Strucker and unidentified others), Jemail Karami and his assassination team

Known Relatives: David Haller (Legion, godson), Gabrielle Haller (wife, deceased)

Aliases: "Dan" (nickname used by Charles Xavier)

Base of Operations: Paris, France;
formerly Haifa, Israel;
formerly a mobile army hospital in Korea

First Appearance: Uncanny X-Men I#161 (September, 1982)

Powers/Abilities: Daniel Shomron possessed no superhuman powers. He was a skilled psychiatrist and director of a mental hospital specializing in helping Holocaust survivors cope with the horrors they experienced in the camps. Inquisitive and caring, Shomron managed to keep a cheerful disposition despite his often emotionally draining work. 

Height: 5'9" (by approximation)
Weight: 138 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black

History:

(Uncanny X-Men I#161 (fb) - BTS) - Daniel Shomron worked as a psychiatrist for the US Army during the Korean War. While helping battlefield casualties come to terms with their injuries or the horrors of war, he met Charles Xavier who was serving in the army at the time. Shomron, unaware of the fact Xavier was a telepath, was most impressed by the way Charles seemed able to help even the most severe mental cases. Calling him the best instinctive psychologist he'd ever seen, Shomron befriended Xavier. The two stayed in touch after the Korean conflict ended.

   Upon returning to Israel, Shomron moved to the seaport city of Haifa where he converted a posh resort into a mental hospital for Holocaust survivors suffering from psychiatric disorders. Among the staff members he hired, both professionals and volunteers, was a Nazi deathcamp survivor who called himself Magnus.

   When Shomron and his staff proved unable to treat Gabrielle Haller, a survivor of camp Dachau whose mind collapsed into catatonic schizophrenia, Daniel decided his old friend Charles Xavier might be able to help out. It took Shomron several messages to locate his old friend, who was travelling across the mediterranean and Egypt at the time. In the end, Shomron got a hold of Charles and told him he needed his help.

(Uncanny X-Men I#161) - Daniel drove his army jeep to the port of Haifa to pick up Charles Xavier who had travelled by boat from Cairo. Catching up on the way, Xavier was impressed by the way Shomron was leading his life. Upon arriving at the hospital, they were met by Magnus who accompanied them to their patient, Gabrielle Haller. Without Shomron or Magnus noticing, Charles Xavier entered the young girl's mind and, with some doing, used his telepathy to break down the psychic barrier she'd erected to protect her mind. Moments later, Gabrielle regained consciousness for the first time in years, screaming for her mother and father. After putting Gabrielle to bed, Shomron insisted Charles and Magnus joined him in toasting Xavier's early success. However, none of them were aware their conversation was overheard by a spy working for Baron Strucker and Hydra.

(Uncanny X-Men I#161 - BTS) - Shomron continued his work at the hospital while, for the next several weeks, Charles, Gabrielle and Magnus travelled across Israel in an attempt to reacquaint her with the world. During this period, Haller and Xavier fell in love.

(X-Men I#40 - BTS) - Amazed at the fact his friend Magnus had somehow constructed a wheelchair far more practical than the ones supplied by the Red Cross, Xavier wondered if he was more than "just" a volunteer orderly as he claimed to be. Returning the favor, Magnus replied that there was also more to Charles than met the eye. Xavier gently rebuffed the inquiry by stating he was merely a miracle worker specializing in acute mental disorders, just as Daniel Shomron said he was when he introduced them a few weeks ago.

(Uncanny X-Men I#161) - One night, on their way to dinner, the mental hospital was suddenly besieged by unknown troops who succesfully managed to kidnap Gabrielle despite Magnus and Charles' best efforts. Daniel Shomron was relieved to see Charles and Magnus were alright following the attack. He told them they'd managed to take one of the mysterious soldiers prisoner, but that he refused to talk. Enraged by the fact his lover was taken, Xavier forcibly used his telepathy to gather all the information he needed from the mind of, as it turned out, former SS major turned Hydra operative Rudolf Kranz.

(Excalibur III#14 (fb) - BTS) - Shortly after she broke up with Charles, Gabrielle discovered she was pregnant. Deciding not to inform Xavier and to raise their child herself with Shomron as the boy's godfather, Gabrielle and Daniel eventually fell in love and got married. When Haller's career took her to Paris, Daniel accompanied her and David there. 

(New Mutants I#28 (fb) ) - While in Paris, Shomron was the victim of a band of terrorists led by Jemail Karami. The Arab assassins went on a killing spree, shooting every jewish person they could find and forced their way into Haller's home. Daniel instinctively used his body to shield David and died instantly.

(X-Factor I#108 (fb) ) - With Mystique out to kill David Haller, X-Factor was sent in to protect him. Before they went out, Valerie Cooper briefed the team on Haller's origins and how witnessing Shomron's death caused the boy to develop split personalities that eventually led to him becoming Legion.

Comments: Created by Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks).

Daniel Shomron shares his name with the Israeli general who commanded the 1976 paratrooper raid into Uganda, which freed some 100 odd hostages. Though unconfirmed, it seems Dave Cockrum based Daniel Shomron's physical appearance on that of the late great actor Allan Arbus (1918 - 2013). A fitting choice, considering Arbus played army psychiatrist Sidney Freedman on the hit television show M*A*S*H*, which was set during the Korean war. A propos of nothing: while the actual Korean war lasted a little over 3 years (1950-1953),  M*A*S*H* was on for 11 seasons (1972 to 1983)... Guess the horrors of war and meatball surgery have a longer lasting appeal when you put some canned laughter in...

Gabrielle Haller's original stories placed her as a holocaust survivor. While that was reasonable in a 1980 (or so) story, it seems less likely that she could have been 75-80 years old in the stories occurring in recent years, even is she was only 5-10 years old during World War II. Sure, that's a stretch, but not unreasonable. But, as time marches on in reality, it just becomes increasingly unlikely that she is a year older each year, while none of the other characters age. So, Gabrielle Haller was severely traumatized...whether it was by her own experiences or by learning of how horrific the holocaust was...or perhaps something happened that slowed her aging...or something else, we don't have to decide for now...
--Snood

Profile by Norvo.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Daniel Shomron should not be confused with


images: (without ads)
Uncanny X-Men I#161, p5, pan2 (main image)
Uncanny X-Men I#161, p5, pan3 (meets Xavier)
Uncanny X-Men I#161, p9, pan1 (has a prisoner)
New Mutants I#28, p12, pan2 (dies)


Appearances:
Uncanny X-Men I#161 (September, 1982) -
Chris Claremont (writer), Dave Cockrum (pencils), Bob Wiacek (inks), Louise Jones (editor)
New Mutants I#28 (June, 1985) - Chris Claremont (writer), Bll Sienkiewicz (pencils & inks), Ann Nocenti (editor)
X-Factor I#108 (November, 1994) - John Francis Moore & Todd DeZago (writers), Jan Duursema (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Kelly Corvese & Bob Harras (editors)
X-Men I#40 (January, 1995) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Matt Ryan (inks), Bob Harras (editor)


Last updated: 01/13/14

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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