MOYSHE-KHAYIM DUKHOVITSH (DUJOWICH)

MOYSHE-KHAYIM DUKHOVITSH (DUJOWICH) (1874-September 15, 1951)

            He was born in Starobin, Slutsk region, Byelorussia, into the family of a timber merchant.  He studied in religious primary school, in the synagogue study hall, and later took up a general education.  At age fifteen he attempted, without success, to attend the Vilna Jewish teachers’ institute.  He subsequently worked as a bookkeeper in various cities in Ukraine and in Kavkaz, and he was implicated in revolutionary demonstrations.  He later joined the Zionist movement.  After the Bolshevik Revolution, he worked for a time in the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs.  In 1924 he emigrated to Mexico, where he devoted himself primarily to journalism.  He published in: Meksikaner yidishe shtime (Jewish voice of Mexico), Di tsayt (The times), Oyfboy (Construction), and Di shtime (The voice), all in Mexico City.  He published current events articles, essays, and feature pieces in Tog (Day) in New York as well.  He also published a number of stories and novellas, which offered reflections on the emergence of Jewish settlement in Mexico.  Among his books: Zangen fun mayn feld, zikhroynes fun a durkhgelebt lebn (Ears [of corn] from my field, memoirs of a life lived through) (Mexico, 1943), 247 pp.; and Fun altn kval, eseyen (From an old source, essays) (Mexico, 1954), 183 pp.  He died in Mexico City.

Sources: Y. Glants, in Der veg (Mexico), jubilee edition (1930-1940); Y. Berliner, in Der veg (September 13, 1943); Di shtime (Mexico) (September 25, 1954).