LEYB STOTSKI

LEYB STOTSKI (b. May 14, 1902)

            He was born in Vilna.  He studied in religious primary school, a Russian elementary school, the first secular Jewish school run by “Mefitse haskole” (Society for the promotion of enlightenment [among the Jews of Russia]), and Epshteyn’s Vilna Hebrew High School.  He placed poetry in various Vilna publications, such as: Grinike beymelekh (Little green trees), Der khaver (The friend) (1919-1920), Unzer fraynd (Our friend), Vilner tog (Vilna day), Yugnt-zhurnal (Youth journal), Vegn (Pathways), Grosman’s almanac Vilne in vort un bild (Vilna in word and image), and Zalmen Shik’s 1000 yor vilne (One thousand years of Vilna).  He also published under the pen names Leyb S-ki and Leyb Kornbliml.  From 1933 he served as an internal contributor to Unzer fraynd (later, Di tsayt [The times]).  He was living in Vilna after the entry of the Soviet Russian authorities in 1939 and under the rule of the Lithuanians (beginning in late 1939).  He also contributed work to the Soviet Russian and Polish press.  According to Shmerke Katsherginski, he was among the exiled writers who were killed in Siberia.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2; Z. Shik, 1000 yor vilne (One thousand years of Vilna) (Vilna, 1939), pp. 82-83; D. Tsharni (Daniel Charney), “Poylishe yidn” (Polish Jews), in Yorbukh 1942 (Yearbook 1942) (New York, 1942), p. 96; Shmerke Katsherginski, Tsvishn hamer un serp (Between hammer and sickle) (Paris, 1949); the anthology Lite (Lithuania), vol. 1 (New York, 1951), pp. 1149-50; Leyzer Ran, 25 yor yung vilne (Twenty-five years of Young Vilna) (New York, 1955).

Yankev Kahan