David Wolffsohn was born in Darbėnai, Lithuania (then Russian Empire) to religious parents, Isaac and Feiga.

He moved to Memel, East Prussia, to leave his family, where he met Rabbi Isaac Rülf.

Rülf accepted him as a student and taught Wolffsohn the German language, mathematics, and introduced him to the Hovevei Zion movement.

Speaker of the Knesset Yosef Sprinzak and the Chairman of the Zionist Executive Berl Locker delivered eulogies.

Before he died, he provided a short synopsis of his life for Nahum Sokolow, another Zionist leader of the time.