AVROM (ABRAHAM) LUDVIPOL

AVROM (ABRAHAM) LUDVIPOL (October 1866-May 3, 1921)

            He was born in Zvihil (Novohrad-Volynskyy), Ukraine, into a Hassidic family which drew its pedigree from Rabbi Pinkhes Koritser (Pinchas of Koretz).  Until age sixteen he studied Torah and Hassidism, and then he fell under the influence of the Jewish Enlightenment and quietly set out to read secular books.  He served in the military, before departing for Odessa and from there to Israel, but because of the entry edicts of the Turkish government, he remained in Egypt where he worked in unskilled labor.  He then moved on to Paris, learned French, and attended lectures at the Sorbonne.  He sent in to Hamelits (The advocate) his “Mikhtavim mipariz” (Missives from Paris), which excelled with their light style, according to French specimens, and afforded him a name among Hebrew readers.  He participated in the first Zionist congresses, popularized the Zionist idea through his articles in the French daily newspaper Le Temps, and wrote in the Hebrew press on Jewish life in Western Europe.  During the Dreyfus trial, he was the Paris correspondent for Odesskii listok (Odessa flier) in Russian, and he was on close terms with the leaders of the Dreyfusards.  In 1903 he became editor of Hatsofe (The spectator) in Warsaw and changed it into a European daily newspaper.  When the newspaper’s state of affairs became uncertain, he left for St. Petersburg where he wrote for Fraynd (Friend) a series of articles entitled “Di yidn beys der frantseyzisher revolutsye” (Jews at the time of the French Revolution)—in the supplement to Fraynd (142, 196ff); and in Russian he wrote monographs on Adolphe Crémieux, Bernard Lazare, and Dr. Theodor Herzl.  Into Hebrew he translated: Hippolyte-Lazare Carnot, Hamahpekha hatsarfatit (The French Revolution [original: La Révolution française, résumé historique (The French Revolution, historical summary)]) (Warsaw, 1896), 2 volumes; and [chapter 1 of] Georges Maspero, Toldot ame hamizraḥ hakadmonim (History of the ancient peoples of the East [original: Histoire ancienne des peuples de l’Orient]) (Warsaw, 1897), 70 pp.  He also wrote for Hashiloaḥ (The shiloah) under the pen name Medinai (diplomat).  In the last Luaḥ aḥiasef (1904-1905), he published a lengthy article about Dr. Hertzl.  In 1908 he settled in Jaffa, contributed to Hapoel hatsair (The young worker), and later for Haarets (The land) and the monthly Moledet (Homeland), among other serials.  He was a member of “Havaad hazemani” (Temporary council), and cofounder of the first “Elected Assembly” in the land of Israel.  He died in Jaffa.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2 (with a bibliography); Sefer haishim (Biographical dictionary) (Tel Aviv, 1937), p. 582; D. Tidhar, in Entsiklopedyah leḥalutse hayishuv uvonav (Encyclopedia of the pioneers and builders of the yishuv), vol. 2 (Tel Aviv, 1947), pp. 673-74; Sh. Slutski, Avrom Reyzen-biblyografye (Avrom Reyzen bibliography) (New York, 1956), no. 4527; A. Uri, Sefer zvihil (Zvihil volume) (Tel Aviv, 1961/1962), pp. 82-83.

Yankev Kohen