MARKUS PARISHEVSKI

MARKUS PARISHEVSKI (March 12, 1891-June 11, 1970)

            With the Jewish name Mortkhe, he was born in Marseilles, France.  His parents, Hassidim from Poland, returned in 1895 to their hometown, the village of Khotomov (Chotomów) near Warsaw, so as to give their children a Jewish upbringing.  In 1910 he made his way to Buenos Aires, Argentina.  He was a cofounder of the local Labor Zionist party and active in Jewish schools.  He began publishing in Polish in 1907, in Warsaw.  He debuted in print in Yiddish in Tog (Day) in Buenos Aires in 1915.  With articles, essays, and stories, contributed to: Di prese (The press), Oyfgang (Arise), Idishe tsaytung (Jewish newspaper), Argentiner beymelekh (Little Argentinian trees), Der veg (The way), Ikuf (IKUF [Jewish Cultural Association]), Ilustrirte literarishe bleter (Illustrated literary leaves), and Antologye fun der yidisher literatur in argentine (Anthology of Yiddish literature in Argentina) in Buenos Aires; Folk un velt (People and world) and Forverts (Forward) in New York.  He also published in Spanish-language journals.  He authored such books as: Tsishn vilde un tsivilizirte. a bashraybung fun a rayze iber peruaner berg un velder, tsvishn tsivilizirte yishuvim un indyaner shvotim (Among the wild and civilized, a description of the Peruvian mountains and forests, amid civilized settlements and Indian tribes) (Buenos Aires, 1944), 289 pp.; Dzhungls un shtet, rayze ayndrukn (Jungles and cities, travel impressions) (Buenos Aires, 1951), 2 vols., 544 pp.; Fun der vaysl bizn la plata-taykh (From the Vistula to La Plata river) (Buenos Aires, 1970), 396 pp.  He died in Buenos Aires.

            “He is a fine storyteller,” noted N. B. Minkov.  “He describes things in a highly interesting manner.  He communicates…in a flexible way.  He is rich in precise wording, and varied in his simple expressions.  He is also good at depictions, a fine painter.  He locates the necessary colors and nuances to convey the wild, primitive, and majestic phenomena of nature.”

Sources: Sh. Rozhanski, Dos yidishe gedrukte vort in argentina (The published Yiddish word in Argentina), vol. 1 (Buenos Aires, 1941), p. 185; P. Kats, in Ikuf (Buenos Aires) (August 1944); Kats, in Shriftn (Buenos Aires) 7 (1947), p. 57; Sh. Vaynshenker, in Unzer fraynt (Montevideo) (November 19, 1944); G. Sapozhnikov, in Der holts-industryal (Buenos Aires) (1944, 1952); Sapozhnikov, in Pinkes (New York) (1965), pp. 210-11; V. Bresler, “Biblyografishe reshime fun di yidishe oysgabes in argentine” (Bibliographic listing of the Yiddish publications in Argentina), in his Antologye fun der yidisher literatur in argentine (Anthology of Jewish literature in Argentina) (Buenos Aires, 1944), p. 921; N. B. Minkov, in Tsukunft (New York) (January 1945); Y. Botoshanski, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (November 21, 1951); Botoshanski, in Algemeyne entsiklopedye (General encyclopedia), vol. 5 (New York, 1957), p. 378; Y. Varshavski (Bashevis), in Foirverts (New York) (February 23, 1958).

Benyomen Elis

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 427.]