YOYSEF VINYETSKI (JOSÉ WINIECKI)

YOYSEF VINYETSKI (JOSÉ WINIECKI) (December 12, 1900-November 7, 1964)

            He was born in Warsaw.  He attended the yeshiva in Lomzhe (Łomża) and a secondary school in Warsaw.  From his early youth he was active in the Labor Zionist Party.  He graduated from the Bialystok pedagogical course and for a time worked as a teacher.  In 1921 he moved to Mexico.  He became a teacher in the Jewish school and lecturer in Hebrew at the University of Mexico.  He began writing reportage pieces in Haynt (Today) in Warsaw in 1917, and from that point on he published articles, stories, tales, impressions, and children’s stories in Haynt, as well as in: Tog (Day), Nyu york (New York), Der veg (The way), Dos vort (The word), Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) in Montreal, and Davar (Word) in Tel Aviv, among others.  His books include: Af biblishe motivn, aforizmen, epigramen, parafrazn (On biblical themes, aphorisms, epigrams, paraphrasings) (Mexico City, 1939), 80 pp.; Fartsaytn, biblishe dertseylungen un legendes (Ancient times, biblical stories and legends) (Mexico City, 1940), 113 pp.; Baginen, roman fun yidishn imigrantn-lebn in meksike (Dawn, a novel of Jewish immigrant life in Mexico City) (Mexico City, 1944), 223 pp.; Far unzere kinder, yidish lernbukh far ershtn klas folkshul (For our children, a Yiddish textbook for the first year in public school) (Mexico City, 1947), 92 pp.; Tsvey mayselekh, der kleyner berele un der groyser ber, di zun un dos zumer feygl (Two tales: The little bear and the big bear; The sun and the summer bird) (Mexico City, 1948), 30 pp.; Farn mabl, bilder fun yidishn lebn in poyln fun far dem khurbn (Before the flood, images from Jewish life in Poland from before the Holocaust) (Mexico City, 1951), 157 pp.; Far unzere kinder, farn tsveytn lernyor (For our children, for the second school year) (Mexico City, 1954), 92 pp.  He edited: Unzer vort (Our word), the first Yiddish newspaper in Mexico produced hectographically (1923); Unzer shul (Our school), yearbook of the Jewish school in Mexico City (1954), 78 pp.  Most recently he published a work on Hebreisms in the Spanish language: Hebraísmos españoles: Vocabulario de raíces hebreas en la lengua castellana (Spanish Hebreisms, vocabulary of Hebrew roots in the Castilian language) (Mexico City: Universidad National Autónoma de México, 1959), 85 pp., in pocketbook format.  He also published under the pen names: Federman and Y. Gafni.  In 1943 he received an award from YIVO for his work: Far vos ikh hob farlozt mayn heym (Why I left my home).  He lived in Mexico City until his death.

Sources: Y. Glants, in Der veg (Mexico City) (August 12, 1939; May 19, 1959); M. Glikovski, in Der veg, jubilee edition (1930-1940).