DOV YOSEFI

DOV YOSEFI (October 7, 1905-June 27, 1995)

            The pen name of Berl Broynfeld, he was born in Nay-Sandz (Nowy Sącz), western Galicia.  Until age eighteen he studied in religious elementary school and yeshivas, later through self-study he acquired secular subject matter and foreign languages.  For a time he lived in Munkatsh (Hung. Munkács).  He worked as a private tutor, later the owner of a publishing firm in Belgium.  Over the years 1933-1949, he lived in Paraguay and Chile, and he cofounded “Hashomer hatsair” (The young guard) and was secretary for Haḥaluts (The pioneer) in Chile.  He was the founder of the first preparatory farm (for agricultural settlement in the land of Israel) in Latin America.  In 1949 he moved to Israel, where he was one of the founders of Kibbutz Gaash.  He was co-creator and for a time secretary of the world association of Mapam (United Workers’ Party), from which he subsequently seceded due to Mapam’s pro-Soviet orientation.  He began writing for the journal Di yidishe prese (The Jewish press) in Santiago de Chile (March 1936), and from that time on contributed work to: Dos vort (The word) and Dos idishe vort (The Jewish word) in Chile; Di shtime (The voice) in Mexico City; and Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) in Montreal; among others.  He served as editor for Yisroel-shtime (Voice of Israel) (1954-1959), was an internal contributor to Al hamishmar (On guard), and edited the monthly Had hahistadrut (Echo of Histadrut)—all in Tel Aviv.  His pamphlet Tsurik tsum revolutsyonern tsienizm (Return to revolutionary Zionism) (Santiago de Chile, 1941), 16 pp., was translated into Spanish.  He also contributed work to the Spanish-language journals Mundo Judío (The Jewish world) in Santiago de Chile and Judaica (Judaica) in Buenos Aires, and he edited the Spanish periodical Kidma (Progress) in Santiago de Chile.  Among his pen names: Dov Braunfeld, Ben Yankev-Yoysef, D. Bar-Sde, S-R, and B. Bernardo.  He was last living in Ramat Aviv, near Tel Aviv.

Sources: Y. Blumshteyn, in Dos yidishe vort (Chile) (January 7, 1949); D. Lazar, in Maariv (Tel Aviv) (November 11, 1959); Z. Kamai, in Idisher kemfer (New York) (December 25, 1959); Afrikaner idisher tsaytung (Johannesburg) (May 20, 1960).

Khayim Leyb Fuks