AVROM-LEYZER FISHER

AVROM-LEYZER FISHER (November 4, 1896-January 20, 1968)

            He was born in Tshortkov (Chortkiv), eastern Galicia.  He studied in religious elementary school, in a modern Hebrew school, a public school, a high school, and later at the Vienna senior high school for agriculture, from which he graduated as an engineer.  At age sixteen he participated in the founding of the youth organization Hashomer (The guard).  He served as an Austrian soldier in WWI.  In 1917 he published his first story in the Cracow Hebrew weekly newspaper Hamitspe (The watchtower).  In Yiddish he debuted in print in 1923.  In 1926 he emigrated to Argentina and worked for a time with YIVO in Buenos Aires.  He was a member of the local Jewish community administration (1943-1944), and he was active in the right Labor Zionist party.  He published stories, sketches, poems, articles, and essays in: Di idishe tsaytung (The Jewish newspaper), Di prese (The press), Di naye tsayt (The new times), Der shpigl (The mirror), Shriftn (Writings), Oyfsnay (Afresh), and Davke (Necessarily), as well as in Hebrew journals, Darom (South) and Atidenu (Our future), all in Buenos Aires; and Kama and Demuyot (Figures) in Jerusalem.  In 1932 his play Nemirover kdoyshim (Martyrs of Nemirov) was staged in Buenos Aires.  His books include: In veg un andere dertseylungen (On the road and other stories) (Buenos Aires, 1934), 176 pp.; Historishe drames (Historical dramas) (Buenos Aires, 1957), 403 pp.—this volume includes the plays: Shoyfet un novi (Judge and prophet), Khevle melukhe (Pangs of state), Shoyel un dovid (Saul and David), Nemirover kdoyshim, and Groyser kheshbn (Great accounting).  He translated a volume by the late president of the state of Israel, Yitzḥak Ben-Zvi: Mit der tsveyter alie, zikhroynes (With the second aliya, memoirs) (Buenos Aires: Kiem, 1956), 260 pp.  He also served on the editorial board of Di naye tsayt and of the Spanish-language monthly of the Jewish National Fund, Vida de Israel (Life of Israel).  He used the pen name: Dayag.

Sources: Y. Botoshanski, ed., Zamlbukh fun di prese (Anthology of Di prese) (Buenos Aires, 1938); Botoshanski, Mame-yidish (Mother Yiddish) (Buenos Aires: Dovid Lerman, 1949); Botoshanski, in Algemeyne entsiklopedye (General encyclopedia), “Yidn 5” (New York, 1957), p. 381; Sh. Rozhanski, Dos yidishe gedrukte vort in argentine (The published Yiddish word in Argentina), vol. 1 (Buenos Aires, 1941); V. Bresler, Antologye fun der yidisher literatur in argentine (Anthology of Jewish literature in Argentina) (Buenos Aires, 1944), p. 921; P. Kats, Shriftn (Writings), vol. 7 (Buenos Aires, 1947); Y. Falat, in Di naye tsayt (Buenos Aires) (December 2, 1966).

Benyomen Elis