Z. F. (ZEV) FINKELSHTEYN

Z. F. (ZEV) FINKELSHTEYN (February 13, 1886-1959)

            He was born in Lemberg, Galicia.  He studied in religious elementary school, in a Polish public school and high school, and at Lemberg University.  In 1913 he received the title of doctor of laws.  He was active in the Zionist student organization “Hashomer” (The guard).  He began his literary activities in Polish and published poems in the Polish-Zionist monthly periodical Morija (Moriah), and he later contributed work to: Gershom Bader’s Folks-kalendar (People’s calendar) and Tageblat (Daily newspaper) in Lemberg, and for a time was editor of Lemberg’s Yidishe ilustrirte vokhnblat (Jewish illustrated weekly newspaper).  Over the years 1914-1938, he lived in Vienna and there contributed to Jewish weeklies in German.  He took part in relief work for Jewish refugees during WWI.  He was the Vienna representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (ITA).  He served as president, 1936-1938, of the Jewish journalists’ association in Vienna.  Together with Adolf Stand, he published a volume in Polish on Herzl in 1913, which was translated into other languages.  He also brought out in German Stürmer des Ghetto (Striker of the ghetto) (Vienna, 1924), 184 pp., including essays on Sholem-Aleichem, Perets, Bialik, Frug, Linietski, and others.  He was living in Israel from 1938.  He wrote for: Haolam (The world), Haarets (The land), Haboker (This morning), and Hapoel hatsair (The young worker).  He was a correspondent for the London-based Yidishe shtime (Jewish voice) and also contributed to the Jüdisches Lexikon (Jewish biographical dictionary) in German.  He died in Israel.  Among his pen names: Z. F. Pinot.

Sources: D. Tidhar, in Entsiklopedyah leḥalutse hayishuv uvonav (Encyclopedia of the pioneers and builders of the yishuv), vol. 7 (Tel Aviv, 1956), pp. 2805-6; Meylekh Ravitsh, Mayn leksikon (My lexicon), vol. 3 (Montreal, 1958), p. 483; Meyer Hanish, in Hapoel hatsir (Tel Aviv) (September 22, 1959), p. 23.

Benyomen Elis

BETSALEL-HIRSH FINKELSHTEYN

BETSALEL-HIRSH FINKELSHTEYN

            He was a wedding entertainer in Warsaw.  He authored Di milkhome oder di rayze fun a zapasnem (The war or the travels of a reserve) (Warsaw: A. Boymritter, 1905), 16 pp.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 442.

Ezra Lahad

AVROM FINKELSHTEYN

AVROM FINKELSHTEYN (d. September 1964)

            He came from the city of Kibert (Kybartai), Lithuania.  From his early youth, he took part in Yiddish theater.  In 1923 he emigrated to Mexico.  He was the organizer of the Yiddish theater studio and one of the founders of “Alef” (Jewish literary and artistic association)—the first such group of Jewish artists and Yiddish writers in Mexico.  He was also active in a variety of Jewish cultural societies, as well as in the Jewish community.  He wrote articles on theater in the Yiddish press of Mexico.  He died in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Sources: Y. Y. Vinyetski, in Der veg (Mexico City) (February 22, 1958); Y. Glats, in Der veg (September 15, 1964); Z. A. Berebitshes, in Der veg (September 15, 1964); Kh. Lazdayski, in Keneder odler (Montreal) (September 23, 1964).

Benyomen Elis

ABE FINKELSHTEYN

ABE FINKELSHTEYN (1898-1978)

            He was a Soviet bibliographer and publisher, born in the town of Stupenits, Kiev district, Ukraine. In 1922 he came to Moscow to work for the management committee of the principal Soviet Yiddish newspaper, Der emes (The truth), and from that time he was always linked with Yiddish publishing and book distribution. He took an active part in organizing book sales in Moscow and Minsk. He was until 1940 the Moscow representative of Emes publishing house, and after WWII he was the manager of Emes publishers and the newspaper Eynikeyt (Unity). From the 1930s he was also involved in publishing bibliographies and statistical bibliographical materials in the Minsk-based journal Shtern (Star), the Moscow almanacs Sovetish (Soviet) and Heymland (Homeland), and later Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland). In book form: Di bikher produktsye funem farlag “emes” farn tsveytn finfyor 1933-1937 (Book production from the publisher Emes before the second Five-Year Plan, 1933-1937) (Moscow, 1938), 427 pp.; Di yidishe bikher-produktsye funem ukrayinishe-natsyonale-melukhe-farlag farn tsveytn finfyor 1933-1937 (The Yiddish book production of the Ukrainian State Publishers for National Minorities prior to the second Five-Year Plan, 1933-1937), in figures (Minsk, 1939), 91 pp.; Byuleten fun “emes”-farlag (Bulletin of the publisher Emes [Truth]), with Abe Lev, for the second and third quarter of the year 1934 (Moscow) 3 (1935), 32 pp. He also published bibliographic works in: Sovetish 7-8 (1938), 9-10 (1939); Sovetish heymland 3 and 4 (1964). He died in Moscow.

Sources: Kh. Nadel, in Eynikeyt (Moscow) (July 5, 1947); Chone Shmeruk, comp., Pirsumim yehudiim babrit-hamoatsot, 1917-1961 (Jewish publications in the Soviet Union, 1917-1961) (Jerusalem, 1962), see index.

Benyomen Elis

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 442; and Chaim Beider, Leksikon fun yidishe shrayber in ratn-farband (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers in the Soviet Union), ed. Boris Sandler and Gennady Estraikh (New York: Congress for Jewish Culture, Inc., 2011), p. 294.]

A. FINKELSHTEYN

A. FINKELSHTEYN

            He was a wedding entertainer in Warsaw.  He authored: Goldene folkslider (Golden folksongs) (Warsaw, 1916), 16 pp.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 441.

MORTKHE FINKELMAN

MORTKHE FINKELMAN (b. 1876)

            He was born in Telenești, Bessarabia.  He lived in Odessa, Kishinev, and Belz.  He owned a publishing company.  He was active in the Ḥoveve-tsiyon (Lovers of Zion) movement and “Bene Moshe” (Sons of Moses).  From 1903 to 1914, he published stories and travel narratives in: Fraynd (Friend) in St. Petersburg; Der yud (The Jew) in Cracow; and Haynt (Today) in Warsaw.  He also contributed to Spektor’s Unzer lebn (Our life) and to the Odessa newspapers: Gut morgn (Good morning) and Sholem aleykhem (Good day!).  He lived in the land of Israel during the years of WWI.

Sources: Y. Fikhman, Regnboygn, zikhroynes, eseyen un lider (Rainbow, memoirs, essays, and poems) (Buenos Aires) (1953), p. 18; Y. Tsuzmer, Beikve hador (In the footprints of a generation) (New York, 1957), see index.

Khayim Leyb Fuks

MORTKHE (MORRIS) FINKEL

MORTKHE (MORRIS) FINKEL (1885-July 27, 1940)

            The older brother of Leo Finkelshteyn, he was born in Radom, Poland, into a scholarly Hassidic family.  After emigrating to the United States, he lived in Chicago, where, together with V. Natanzon and Y. Babinsky, he founded an Yiddish culture club in 1925.  He contributed articles to various Yiddish newspapers and journals.  He and Babinsky translated from English: Lebn un materye (Life and matter) by Herbert Wildon Carr (Chicago, 1937), 23 pp.; and Dray dyalogn tsvishn haylos un filonus (Three dialogues between Hylas and Philonous) by George Berkeley (Chicago, 1938), 243 pp.; and William James, “Der viln tsu gloybn” (The Will to Believe), in Yidishe shriftn (Yiddish writings) (New York) 4.3 (1944).  He was also a lecturer to wings of the Jewish National Workers’ Alliance and other popular Jewish organizations.  He died in Chicago.

Sources: A. Mukdoni, in Morgn zhurnal (New York) (January 23, 1935); obituary notice in Der shpign (Buenos Aires) (October 8, 1940).

Benyomen Elis