NOKHUM KRITSHMAR (NAUM KRICHMAR)

NOKHUM KRITSHMAR (NAUM KRICHMAR) (March 14, 1896-February 20, 1983)

            He was born in Kishinev.  He emigrated to Argentina in 1906 and settled in the colony of Mauricia and later to the colony of Narcis Leven; from 1929 he was living in Buenos Aires.  He was active in the community primarily in the realm of Jewish colonization in Argentina.  He began publishing in 1914 with poems in Di prese (The press) and Idishe tsaytung (Jewish newspaper), both in Buenos Aires.  Later, though, he turned solely to contemporary journalism, especially to Jewish agrarian affairs in the country.  He published articles in Arbayter fraynd (Workers’ friend) in London, Fraye arbeter shtime (Free voice of labor) in New York, and the local Yiddish newspapers.  Over the years 1922-1947, he was a regular contributor to Di prese and edited its weekly supplement “In der landvirtshaft” (In agriculture).  He was an internal contributor, 1960-1973, to Idishe tsaytung, having earlier placed work in it; in 1922 he published a series of articles entitled “Unzer kolonizatsye-problem” (Our colonization problem) there.  He also published in: Argentinish (Argentinian), Ineynem (Altogether), the jubilee volumes for Di prese and Idishe tsaytung, and several longer works in Argentiner yivo-shriftn (Argentinian YIVO writings).  In book form: Di kolonye narsis leven (The colony Narcis Leven) (Buenos Aires: El Progreso, 1964), 423 pp. in Yiddish, 103 pp. in Spanish.  His pen names include: Yankev Feldman, N. Khayimovitsh, A. Grinfeld, and P. Levit.  He died in Buenos Aires.

Sources: Volf Bresler, Antologye fun der yidisher literatur in argentine (Anthology of Jewish literature in Argentina) (Buenos Aires, 1944), p. 387; B. Hoykhman, in Kolonist-kooperator (May 1971); Shmuel Rozhanski, in Idishe tsaytung (Buenos Aires) (June 13, 1971); Moyshe Knaphays and Volf Bresler, Goldener bukh fun yidishn argentine (Golden book of Jewish Argentina), vol. 1 (Buenos Aires, 1973).

Yoysef Horn