MAYER PERKIS

MAYER PERKIS (1888-November 11, 1967)

            He was born in Chichelnik (Chechelnyk), Podolia region, Ukraine.  He received both a Jewish and a general education.  Until 1910 he worked as a Hebrew teacher in Odessa and Zhitomir.  He later lived in Berlin.  Over the years 1911-1917, he lived in New York and Philadelphia, before settling later in Mexico City.  He was a pioneer of Yiddish literature in Mexico.  He began publishing poetry in Russian in Kopeika (Kopek) in Odessa in 1907, later switching to Yiddish.  He published humorous sketches, feature pieces, epigrams, and sketches in: Gut morgn (Good morning) in Odessa; Tog (Day) and Morgn-zhurnal (Morning journal) in New York; and Di idishe velt (The Jewish world) in Philadelphia.  For many years he also contributed to Der veg (The way) in Mexico City.  He work appeared in virtually all of the periodicals and publications in Mexico.  In book form: Matbeyes fun mayn pushke, humoreskes un epigramen (Coins in my tin can, humorous sketches and epigrams) (Mexico City, 1929), 192 pp.  Among his pen names: Mayer Bal-Hanes.

Sources: Yankev Glants, in jubilee publication of Der veg (Mexico City, 1930); Glants, in Der veg (February 8, 1964); Y. Vinyetski, in Der veg (February 22, 1958); Khayim Lazdayski, in Heymish (Tel Aviv) (1960).

Khayim Leyb Fuksc