MAKS BUKANSKI

MAKS BUKANSKI (1848-1903)

Born in Kovno, Lithuania, he studied in a religious elementary school until his bar-mitzvah.  He was introduced to Avrom Mapu who interested him in acquiring a worldly education.  From 1889 he was living in the United States.  He began publishing in Folks advokat (Advocate for the people), served as the principal contributor to Teglekher herald (Daily herald), and edited the daily newspaper Yidishe velt (Jewish world.  Among his books: A rayze oyfn grund fun yam, a visnshaftlekher roman (A trip to the bottom of the sea, a scientific novel) (New York, 1890) [a translation of Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea]; Der getoyfter yingl, oder rebe un pop (The baptized lad, or rebbe and dad) (Brooklyn, 1900), 192 pp.; Der meshumed (The apostate) (New York, 1901), 112 pp.; Di geshikhte fun kristentum oder der farmaskirter getsendinst (The history of Christianity or the disguised polytheism) (New York, 1901), 298 pp.; Goles shpanyen (Spanish diaspora) (New York, 1902), 93 pp.; Di moyradige teg (The dreadful days) (New York, 1890), 76 pp.; Di nekome fun a tokhter (The vengeance of a daughter), in ten booklets (New York, 1896), 1523 pp.; Don yitskhok abarbanel (Don Isaac Abarbanel) (New York, 1902), 90 pp.  He used the pseudonym: Ben-Porat.  In English he used the family name: Bukans.

Sources: Kalmen Marmor, Der onhoyb fun a yidisher literatur in amerike (The beginning of a Jewish literature in America) (New York, 1940); Elias Shulman, Geshikhte fun der yidisher literatur in amerike (History of Jewish literature in America) (New York, 1943); Joseph Chaikin, Yidishe bleter in amerike (Yiddish leaves in America) (New York, 1946); Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1; Z. Zilbertsvayg, Teater-leksikon, vol. 1.