MEYER PEKER

MEYER PEKER (August 10, 1887-1981)

            He was born in Libave (Liepāja), Courland.  From age eight he was living in Warsaw.  He attended religious elementary school and graduated from a senior high school.  He studied medicine in Graz and Basel.  In 1915 he graduated in medicine in Dorpat [Estonia].  He served three years in the Russian military, in which he organized the conference of Jewish soldiers on the western front.  Over the years 1919-1921, he was a doctor in the Polish army.  From 1909 he was contributing to student publications in Russian.  For Haynt (Today) in Warsaw, he wrote medical articles and memoirs from WWI.  He placed work in Bafrayung (Liberation), as well as in Arbeter shtime (Voice of labor), Dos naye vort (The new word), and Unzer ekspres (Our express) (1924-1934).  He edited the monthly Dos kind (The child), for which he wrote on community issues.  In book form: Der veg tsu gezundheyt, praktishe meditsinishe eytses farn tog-teglikhn gebroykh far gezunte un kranke (The way to good health, practical medical advice for daily use for healthy and ill) (Warsaw, 1928).  In 1940 he made aliya to the land of Israel.  He was a contributor to the Parisian journal Folks-gezunt (People’s health).

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2; Menakhem Flakser, in Fun noentn over (new York) 3 (1957), p. 379; Folks-gezunt (Paris) 68 (1957); Yisroel Sheyn, Bibliografye fun oysgabes aroysgegebn durkh di arbeter-parteyen in poyln in di yorn 1918-1939 (Bibliography of publications brought out by the workers’ parties in Poland in the years 1919-1939) (Warsaw: Yidish-bukh, 1963).

Yankev Kahan