YANKEV-SHIMEN
(SHOLEM) LYAKHOVITSKI (December 5, 1874[1]-May 14, 1937)
He was born near the highway inn in
Artychanka, not far from Slonim, Byelorussia.
In 1890 he left Russia and, with a large party of Jewish families from
Russia, and with help from Alliance Israélite, he traveled through
Constantinople to Argentina to settle in the Baron Hirsch colonies. He was a colonist for three years in San
Antonio where he founded the first Yiddish library, and then he settled in
Buenos Aires, became widely active in the Jewish community, was one of the
local pioneers of political Zionism, organized (1897) the first Zionist center
in Buenos Aires, served as secretary general of the hospital, and was president
of the Dr. Herzl League. He was a
cofounder of charitable societies, cultural associations, libraries, clubs, an
organization to fight against ritual impurity, and the like. In 1903 he was president of the Zionist
Federation of Argentina. He began
writing in 1891 with correspondence pieces on the Baron Hirsch colonies for Hamelits (The advocate) in St.
Petersburg, Hamagid (The preacher) in
Lik, and Di yudishe gazeten (The
Jewish gazette) and Arbayter tsaytung
(Workers’ newspaper) in New York. Over
the years 1898-1905, he contributed to Dr. Herzl’s Die Welt (The world) in Vienna, Abend-blat
(Evening newspaper) in New York, and the publication of the German socialists
in Argentina, Vorwärts (Forward). He also placed work, 1899-1902, in Idisher zhurnal (Jewish journal) in
Toronto. In 1898 he published his first
poems and stories in Viderkol (Echo)
of Mikhl Hakohen Sinai. He was editor
(1899-1905) of Der tsienist (The
Zionist), published by the Theodor Herzl League in Buenos Aires. He managed and edited, 1903-1906, the
Spanish-language Zionist organ, El Sionista
(The Zionist), and he contributed work to the newspapers: El Tiempo (The times), La
Argentina (Argentina), and Sarmiento
(Sarmiento), among others in Buenos Aires.
He served as editor, 1909-1913, of Idisher
argentiner vokhnblat (Jewish Argentinian weekly newspaper) in Buenos
Aires. In 1911 he brought out himself a
journal in Spanish entitled Israel
(Israel) and contributed to the Russian Jewish weekly, Novyi mir (New world), edited by Aleksander Pavlovsky and M.
Podolsky. Together with Zev-Volf
Tsaytlin, in 1914 he published the first Yiddish daily in Argentina, Der tog (The day), “the sole Yiddish
informative daily newspaper in Argentina” (its subsequent editor was Fabian Sh.
Halevi). That year, together with V.
Ayzenberg, he brought out the weekly Di
vokh (La Semana [The week]), “a
weekly magazine for literature, commerce, industry, and general popular
interest,” and founded Di idishe tsaytung
(The Jewish newspaper). In 1917, with
Rabinovitsh and Letishevski, he published Der
idisher togblat (The Jewish daily newspaper) which lasted only three months
and then the illustrated literary journal Di
vokh. Over the years 1917-1919, he
edited the Almanakh (Almanac) of Der idisher soykher (The Jewish
businessman), “weekly journal for Jewish commerce, industry, and literature”
(publisher: V. Ayzenberg; co-editors: Y. Makranski and Ts. Shkolnik). In 1922 he edited the Spanish-Yiddish journal
of the Centro Cultural Israelita de Boca y
Barracas, Ezra. Together with Y. Podgayetski, in 1919 he
published the series “Bikhlekh far yedn” (Pamphlets for everyone), twenty-five
of them in all, those by him including: Geshtorben
als heyliger (Dead in the sense of holy), 34 pp.; Tsvantsik zaynen zey geven (They were twenty), with an autobiography
by the author; Ferd un vayber (Horses
and women); Gezindigt un gefaln (Sinned
and fell); and Penemer un penemlekh
(Appearances, big and small)—all roughly the same number of pages. Lyakhovitski provided to each pamphlet a
biographical introduction and review and Aba Kliger’s volume Lider (Poetry) carried
illustrations. Among the authors in the
series, there is a booklet by his son Lazaro Lyakhovitski entitled Aroys fun danen, fremder! (Out of here,
stranger!). Lyakhovitski also wrote
several items for the theater, among them: Di
yidishe firstin in patagonye (The Jewish princess in Patagonia) which was
staged in Buenos Aires; Di erd-eygentimer
un nikolays konstitutsye (The landowner and Nikolai’s constitution), staged
in the United States. He also published
translations of non-Jewish literature.
His correspondence pieces and articles appeared also in: Morgn-zhurnal (Morning journal), Yidishes tageblat (Jewish daily
newspaper), and Dos folk (The people)—in
New York; Di yidishe handels-vokh
(The Jewish business week), Der shpigl
(The mirror), and Penemer un penemlekh
in Buenos Aires. His memoirs from the
first years of the Jewish community in Argentina were published in a number of
periodicals, including Di prese (The press)
in Buenos Aires. In the last years of
his life, he lived in Lomas de Zamora and died there. He was buried in Buenos Aires. After his death, there appeared: Yankev-shimen lyakhovitski, zamlbukh tsu
zayn biografye un kharakteristik (Yankev-Shimen Lyakhovitski, a collection
toward his biography and character) (Buenos Aires, 1938), 96 pp., edited and
prepared for publication by Y. Horn.
Sources:
Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2, with
a bibliography; Volf Bresler, Antologye fun der yidisher literatur in
argentine (Anthology of Jewish literature in Argentina) (Buenos Aires,
1944), pp. 415-16ff; Bresler, “Biblyografishe
reshime fun di yidishe oysgabes in argentine” (Bibliographic listing of the
Yiddish publications in Argentina), in Antologye fun der yidisher literatur
in argentine, p. 925; M. Alperson,
Draysik yor in argentine, memuarn fun a yidishn kolonist (Thirty
years in Argentina, memoirs of a Jewish colonist), vol. 2 (Buenos Aires, 1922-1928);
P. Kats, Geklibene shriftn (Selected
writings), vol. 5 (Buenos Aires, 1946), pp. 105-18, vol. 7 (1947), chapter
entitled “Zhurnaln un shrayber” (Journals and writers); Kats, in Oyfgang (Buenos Aires) (April 1927); Sh.
Rozhanski, in Argentine, fuftsik yor idisher
yishev, tsvantsik yor di prese (Argentina, fifty years of the Jewish
community, twenty years of Di prese)
(Buenos Aires, 1938), pp. 90, 72, 74, 108; Rozhanski, Dos yidishe gedrukte
vort in argentine (The published Yiddish word in Argentina) (Buenos Aires,
1941), pp. 40-46; Y. Botoshanski, Mame
yidish (Mother Yiddish) (Buenos Aires, 1949), see index; Botoshanski, in Algemeyne entsiklopedye (General encyclopedia),
“Yidn 5” (New York, 1957); Dr. A. Mavshan, Yorbukh
tsh”t (Yearbook 1948/1949) (Buenos Aires); Mikhl Hakohen Sinai, articles in
Yankev-shimen
lyakhovitski, zamlbukh
and in Yorbukh tsh”t; M.
Regalski, in Di naye tsayt (Buenos
Aires) (July 23, 1954).
Zaynvl Diamant
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