ZKHARYE FISHMAN

ZKHARYE FISHMAN (March 4, 1891-August 22, 1926)

            A scholar and librarian, brother of Rabbi Yude-Leyb Maymun, he was born in Markulesht (Mărculeşti), Bessarabia.  He studied in religious elementary school and on his own.  In 1913 he moved to the land of Israel, graduated from a Hebrew teachers’ seminary, and later was the librarian at Shaare Tsiyon (Gates of Zion) in Tel Aviv.  Over the years 1919-1924, he was in the United States, graduated from the librarian and journalist faculty at Columbia University in New York.  For a time he was secretary to the editorial board of Haḥerut (Freedom), and later he worked as librarian of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and of the university library in Cincinnati.  His literary work began in Haḥerut in Jerusalem (1918), and later with: Hadoar (The mail), Miklat (Sanctuary), Haivri (The Jew), Luaḥ aḥiasef, Ayin hakora (Eye of the reader), and Hatoran (The duty officer); and in Yiddish, Dos idishe likht (The Jewish light) and Dos idishe folk (The Jewish people) in New York, and Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) in Montreal; among others—among other items, he wrote about Israel and Hassidic legends.  He used such pen names as: Z. Maymun, A. Cohen, and Tsafran.  He mainly devoted his attention to Hebrew bibliography and throughout his life collected materials for a biographical dictionary of Hebrew literature (from the epoch of Vilna Gaon to recent times).  In book form: Agadot erets hakodesh (Homiletic tales from the holy land) (Jerusalem, 1927).  He died in Jerusalem.  There was published in his memory: Kovets lezikaron zekharya fishman (Compilation to the memory of Zekharya Fishman) (1927).

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3; Sefer haishim (Biographical dictionary) (Tel Aviv, 1937), p. 691.

Khayim Leyb Fuks