LEON ARKIN

LEON ARKIN (July 23, 1888-September 30, 1953)

Born in the town of Luna, near to Grodno, into the home of a wealthy timber merchant.  He studied in religious elementary school and the Volozhin yeshiva, later in the commercial school in Bialystok.  In Volozhin he became a Bundist.  For political reasons, in 1906 he departed for the United States and settled in Pittsburgh.  He was the director of the Boston Forverts (Forward), 1922-1949, and for many years he wrote a news column entitled “In and Around Boston.”  In 1949 he assumed the post of director of advertisements for the Forverts.  In 1950 he was elected president of the Workmen’s Circle, and he held that position until the day of his death.

Sources: Y. Baskin, “Epizodn fun mayn lebn” (Episodes from my life), in Baskin-bukh (New York, 1951); N. Khanin, in Forverts (New York) (October 2, 1953); B. Gebiner, in Forverts (New York) (October 23, 1954); Y. Yeshurin, “Leon-arkin-biblyografye” (Leon Arkin’s bibliography), Der fraynd (New York) (November-December 1953).