YANKEV MALIN

YANKEV MALIN (November 29, 1872-September 21, 1941)

            He was born in Hlusk, Minsk district, Byelorussia, the son of a religious elementary school teacher.  He studied with his father and until age eighteen in the synagogue study chamber; later, he studied Russian and prepared for a high school course of study in Pavlograd.  In 1905 he left Russia, lived in Poland, Germany, and England, and from there in 1906 came to the United States where he settled in Philadelphia.  He debuted in print (January 1907) with a sketch in Filadelfyer morgn-tsaytung (Philadelphia morning newspaper), and later became a regular contributor.  At the same time, he published in: Yidishes tageblat (Jewish daily newspaper) in New York; Der yudisher kuryer (The Jewish courier) in Chicago; Di idishe velt (The Jewish world) in Cleveland; and Di idishe velt in Trenton, New Jersey, of which he was also editor.  From 1914 he was standing contributor to Di idishe velt in Philadelphia.  His series of articles—“Barihmte shtet in der alter heym” (Important cities in the old country” and “Tanoim, amoyroim un gdoylim” (The Tanna, Amoraim, and great men)—were reprinted in Yiddish newspapers throughout the world.  He also published translations from Russian, Hebrew, and English, some of which were published in book form.  He was a co-editor of the Hebrew supplement to Di idishe velt and contributed as well to: Haivri (The Jew), Hatoran (The duty officer), Hapisga (The summit), and Hadoar (The mail), among other serials.  His translations in book form include: M. Berezin, Fun keyten tsu frayhayt, fertsaykhenungen fun an antloyfenem politishen katorzhnik (From chains to freedom, notes of a fugitive political hard-labor convict), with a foreword by Moyshe Katz (Philadelphia, 1916), 159 pp.; and Aleksandr Pushkin, Dem kapitans tokhter (The captain’s daughter [original: Kapitanskaya dochka]) (Philadelphia, 1917), 106 pp.  He died in Philadelphia.

Sources: Sh. Rabinovitsh, in Di tsukunft (New York) (January 1917); Biblyografishe yorbikher fun yivo (Bibliographic yearbooks from YIVO) (Warsaw, 1928), see index; M. Frihman, Fuftsik yor geshikhte fun idishen lebn in filadelfye (Fifty years of Jewish life in Philadelphia) (Philadelphia, 1934); Y. Tsuzmer, Beikve hador (In the footprints of a generation) (New York, 1957), see index; obituary notices in the Yiddish press.

Khayim Leyb Fuks