YANKEV-LEYB BEKER

YANKEV-LEYB BEKER (December 5, 1890-May 29, 1971)

            He was born in Koranove, Byelorussia.  He studied in religious elementary school and yeshiva.  He lived for a time in Smolensk and from 1912 in Montreal.  In 1915 he debuted in print with a sketch in Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) in Montreal.  He contributed articles and stories to Kamf (Struggle) and Vokhnblat (Weekly newspaper) in Toronto, as well as Morgn frayhayt (Morning freedom) and Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture) in New York, and other serials as well.  Among his books: Dertseylungen un zikhroynes (Stories and memoirs) (Montreal: IKUF, 1956), 275 pp.  He died in Montreal.

Source: Kh. L. Fuks, Hundert yor yidishe un hebreishe literatur in kanade (A century of Yiddish and Hebrew literature in Canada) (Montreal, 1980).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 100.