YANKEV PILOVSKI

YANKEV PILOVSKI (December 29, 1898-June 6, 1969)

            He was born in Kalelishok, near Vilna, Lithuania, into a rabbinical family.  He studied in religious elementary schools and in the yeshivas of Vilna, Shtutshin (Shchuchyn), and Slobodka.  In 1918 he completed the pedagogical course of study in Kovno, and he then left for Russia.  In 1920 he returned to Lithuania and worked as a teacher in the Kultur-lige (Culture League) school.  In 1924 he made his way to Argentina, lived in Buenos Aires for a time, and then wandered around Latin America with a traveling troupe of Yiddish actors.  In late 1924 he settled in Chile.  He debuted in print in 1920.  He published articles and stories in Vilner tog (Vilna day); Letste nayes (Latest news) in Kovno; Di prese (The press), Di vokh (The week), Der veg (The way), and Ikuf (IKUF), among others, in Buenos Aires; Der veg in Mexico City; Unzer fraynt (Our friend) in Montevideo; Idisher kuryer (Jewish courier) in Chicago; Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) in Montreal; Morgn frayhayt (Morning freedom) and Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture), among others, in New York; Dos yidishe vort (the Yiddish word) and Tshilener yidish vokhnblat (Chilean Jewish weekly newspaper) in Santiago de Chile.  Over the years 1934-1936, he also contributed to and edited the weekly newspapers Idishe prese (Jewish press) and Unzer lebn (Our life), and with M. Rizenberg edited six issues of the literary monthly Bay di andn (Near the Andes).  He also published in: Hatsofe (The spectator), Haomer (The word), and Di goldene keyt (The golden chain).  In book form: Fun tshile, tipn un bilder fun tshilener lebn (From Chile, characters and impressions from Chilean life) (Santiago, 1937), 168 pp.; Iber vegn, dertseylungen un rayze-fartseykhenungen (Along pathways, stories and travel notes) (Santiago, 1949), 362 pp.; Trit af der erd (Step on the ground) (Santiago, 1959), 220 pp.; In gang (In progress) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1967), 230 pp.; A yid af der velt (A Jew in the world) (Tel Aviv: L. Kanay, 1970), 2 volumes.  In 1963 he made aliya to Israel.  He died in Bat Yam.

Sources: Kh. Yofe, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (March 4, 1958); D. Ilivitski, in Dos yidishe vort (Santiago) (November 13, 1959); M. Shenderay, in Dos yidishe vort (December 4, 1959); A. Oyerbakh, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (March 30, 1959); Yankev Glatshteyn, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (May 29, 1960); Sh. Rozhanski, in Di yidishe tsaytung (Buenos Aires) (September 4, 1963); Y. Botoshanski, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (September 5, 1963; June 5, 1964); Pinkes (New York) (1965). p. 307; M. Ḥalamish, Mikan umikarov, antologya shel sipure yidish beerets yisrael (From near and from far away, anthology of stories in Yiddish in Israel) (Merḥavya, 1966).

Benyomen Elis

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 430.]