YANKEV (JACOBO) FLAPAN

YANKEV (JACOBO) FLAPAN (July 12, 1897-March 23, 1936)

            He was born in Grodzhisk (Grodzisk), Warsaw district, Poland.  His father was a teacher, and Yankev studied Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Polish, and Russian with him.  In his youth he lived in Kovno.  In 1923 he attended an institute for German language and literature in Berlin.  His literary work began in Kovno, and in 1922 he debuted in print in K. Zingman’s journal, Vispe (Islet) and in Di idishe velt (The Jewish world); in 1924 he emigrated to Argentina and became a hairdresser.  He was a cofounder, leader, and director of the Yiddish experimental theater “Idrams” (Idishe dramatishe studyo [Yiddish dramatic studio]) in Buenos Aires.  He published poems and stories of life in Argentina in: Far groys un kleyn (For big and small), Di prese (The press), Di pen (The pen), Nay-velt (New world), Dorem-amerike (South America), and Oyfgang (Arise), among others, in Buenos Aires.  A story of his also appeared in Antologye fun der yidisher literatur in argentine (Anthology of Jewish literature in Argentina) (Buenos Aires, 1944).  In book form: In lager (In camp) (Kovno, 1923), 99 pp.; Trep, dertseylungen (Steps, stories) (Buenos Aires: Nay-velt, 1930), 175 pp.  He belonged to the leftist Argentinian writers’ group.  He died in Córdoba, Argentina.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3; A. Pomerants, in Hamer (New York) (June 1931); Y. Botoshanski, in Tsukunft (New York) (August 1931); Argentine, fuftsik yor idisher yishev, tsvantsik yor di prese (Argentina, fifty years of the Jewish community, twenty years of Di prese) (Buenos Aires, 1938), pp. 82, 84-85, 115; Botoshanski, in Algemeyne entsiklopedye (General encyclopedia), “Yidn 5” (New York, 1957), p. 382; Botoshanski, in Shtriker zamlbukh (Knitters’ collection) (Buenos Aires, 1961), pp. 287-88; obituary notice in Literarishe bleter (Warsaw) (March 15, 1936) and in Signal (New York) (May 1936); Sh. Rozhanski, Dos yidishe gedrukte vort in argentine (The published Yiddish word in Argentina), vol. 1 (Buenos Aires, 1941), pp. 136, 162-63, 249; V. Bresler, Antologye fun der yidisher literatur in argentine (Anthology of Jewish literature in Argentina) (Buenos Aires, 1944); P. Kats, Shriftn (Writings), vol. 7 (Buenos Aires, 1947), pp. 83-84; G. Sapozhnikov, in Unzer vort (Buenos Aires) (July 20, 1964).

Benyomen Elis