AKIVA BEN-EZRA

AKIVA BEN-EZRA (April 1, 1897-June 2, 1987)

     The adoptive name of Akiva Kostrometski, he was born in Horodets (Haradziec), near Kobryń, Poland.  He attended religious primary school and yeshivas, as well as studied with a private tutor.  From his early youth, he was active in the Zionist movement.  Before he was an actual member of the Poale-Tsiyon Party, he spent a period of time in the Brest jailhouse.  From 1914 he was living in New York.  He began publishing in Morgn-zhurnal (Morning journal) in 1919.  He wrote monographs, reviews, and treatises concerning the Hebrew language, Hassidism, Hebrew grammar, and Tanakh in: Tog-morgn-zhurnal (Daily morning journal), Amerikaner (American), Undzer folk (Our people), Yidish vokhnblat (Jewish weekly newspaper), Tsukunft (Future), and Hadoar (The mail), among others.  He edited the volume, Horodets (Haradziec) (New York, 1947), 238 pp.  He co-edited a biweekly, Hebrew-language magazine entitled Hadoar lenoar (The mail for youth).  He was also the author of Hebrew textbooks, the majority of which concerned Jewish holidays.  He was living in Brooklyn, New York, before immigrated to Israel in 1971.