ARN ZAKUSKI (AHARON, AARON ZAKUSKY, ZACUSKY)

ARN ZAKUSKI (AHARON, AARON ZAKUSKY, ZACUSKY) (b. September 15, 1909)

            He was born in Brisk (Brest), Lithuania.  He studied in a Russian school, later in a Polish high school.  From 1925 he was living in Argentina, where he was initially a laborer making women’s handbags, later a teacher in a Jewish school.  He began publishing poetry in Di prese (The press) in Buenos Aires in 1926, and from that point he contributed to: Di idishe tsaytung (The Jewish newspaper), Oyfsnay (Afresh), Tsiko-bleter (Pages from Tsiko [Tsentrale yidishe kultur-organizatsye (Central Yiddish Cultural Organization)]), and Grodner opklangen (Grodno echoes)—in Buenos Aires.  His books would include: Ani maymen, lider (I believe, poetry) (Buenos Aires, 1935), 23 pp.; Far mir, far dir, far alemen (For me, for you, for everyone), poetry (Buenos Aires, 1938), 32 pp.; Y. l. perets (Y. L. Perets), an essay (Buenos Aires, 1942), 63 pp.; Leyb naydus (Leyb Naydus), an essay (Buenos Aires, 1951), 16 pp.; Dovid edelshtat in etlekhe zayne forgeyer (Dovid Edelshtat and several of his predecessors) (Buenos Aires, 1955), 111 pp.; Medines yisroel un der vatikan (The state of Israel and the Vatican) (Buenos Aires: Kultur-kongres, 1974), 47 pp.; Tsorndik, satirish un lirish (Furious, satirical, and lyrical) (Buenos Aires: Kultur-kongres, 1976), 79 pp.  He also wrote essays in Spanish on Yiddish literature for the journal Judaica.  He translated Kafe hoyz, shmuesn vegn enrico malatesta (In a coffee house, conversations concerning Errico Malatesta [original: En el Café]) (Buenos Aires, 1936), 119 pp.  He was last living in Buenos Aires.

Sources: Sh. Rozhanski, Dos yidishe gedrukte vort in argentine (The published Yiddish word in Argentina) (Buenos Aires, 1941), pp. 174, 188; Antologye fun der yidisher literatur in argentine (Anthology of Yiddish literature in Argentina) (Buenos Aires, 1944), pp. 365, 921, 924; Y, Botoshanski, in Mame yidish (Mother Yiddish) (Buenos Aires, 1949), pp. 256-57; Algemeyne entsiklopedye (General encyclopedia), “Yidn 5” (New York, 1957), p. 382.

Zaynvl Diamant

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 258.]