SHMUEL L. MILNER (SIMON L. MILLNER)

SHMUEL L. MILNER (SIMON L. MILLNER) (May 5, 1882-January 15, 1952)

            The brother of Yoysef Milner, he was born in Moscow.  He received an education influenced by the Jewish Enlightenment and secular education in public schools.  In 1907 he graduated from Berne University in Switzerland with a doctoral degree in law.  He was a delegate to the sixth Zionist congress in Basel and was a delegate later to other Zionist congresses.  In 1902 he published in Hameasef (The collector) in St. Petersburg his piece “Lekorot hayehudim beḥelm” (History of Jewish in Chełm [birthplace of his parents]).  He served as a correspondent for Hamelits (The spectator).  He contributed as well to: Hashavua (The week) in Cracow; the London-based Hadegel (The banner) and Hameorer (The awakening), edited by Y. Ḥ. Brener; Hatsfira (The siren) in Warsaw; and the Bern socialist Tageszeitung (Daily newspaper).  In 1904, together with Dr. Y. Zalkind, he founded in Berne the Hebrew-language journal Tsiyon (Zion)—only one issue appeared.  He went on to be editor of the daily Unzer leben (Our life) in Warsaw (1910-1912).  In 1913 he published in Lublin the book Der elfter tsienistisher kongres (The eleventh Zionist congress), 87 pp.  In the years between the two world wars, he lived in Holland and England.  In 1938 he moved to the United States.  There he devoted himself to research on Baruch Spinoza and to the popularization of the plastic arts.  He cofounded the art publisher Machmadim in New York, and he served as president of the Spinoza Foundation.  Among his art monographs was his The Face of Benedictus Spinoza (New York: Machmadim, 1946), 51 pp., and a shorter monographs: Ernst Josephson (1948); Faces from the Ghetto (1946), about Abraham Walkowitz; Isaac Lichtenstein (1949); Lesser Uri (1943, in Hebrew).  He was the American representative and editor of the art journal Gazit (Hewn stone).

Sources: Evreiskaia Entsiklopedia (Jewish encyclopedia), vol. XV, p. 657; Hadoar (New York) (Shevat 5 [= February 1], 1952); A. Z-k (Avrom Zak), in Arbeter-vort (Paris) (January 1952); Zak, In friling fun a lebn (In the spring of a life) (Buenos Aires, 1962); archives of the publisher Machmadim in New York; written information from his brother Yoysef Milner and oral information from Yitskhok Likhtenshteyn in New York.

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