M. F. ZAYDMAN

M. F. ZAYDMAN (1877-August 30, 1927)

           He was born in Kamenets-Podolsk (Kamianets-Podilskyi), Ukraine.  He studied in religious primary school, yeshiva, and later as an external student he graduated from a high school.  Over the years 1904-1909, he studied at the University of Berlin and received his doctor of philosophy degree.  He was active in the Zionist student union and a delegate to the Berlin Hebrew culture conference (December 1909).  At the time of the German occupation, 1915-1916, during WWI, he contributed to local press organs sympathetic to Germany, and in order to win Jewish sympathy in America for Germany, he traveled to the United States in 1916 and directed the first Jewish news agency.  He began his journalistic activities with articles about Jewish life in Germany for Hatsfira (The siren) in Warsaw (1902), and until he left Germany he served as a special correspondent for the newspaper.  He later wrote for: Haolam (The world) in Berlin and London; Di velt (The world) and Jüdische Rundschau (Jewish review) in Berlin; Haynt (Today) and Idishes tageblat (Jewish daily newspaper) in Warsaw; Lodzer tageblat (Lodz daily newspaper) and Folksblat (People’s newspaper) in Lodz; Di tsayt (The times) in London; Varhayt (Truth), Morgn-zhurnal (Morning journal), Idisher kemfer (Jewish fighter), and Hadoar (The mail) in New York; and Di idishe velt (The Jewish world) in (Philadelphia); among others.  He edited the weekly newspaper Brukliner naye tsaytung (Brooklyn new newspaper), 1925-1927.  He was the author of the pamphlet: Di berliner hebreishe kultur-konferents (The Berlin Hebrew culture conference) (Odessa, 1910), 24 pp.  He died in New York.

Sources: D. B. Tirkel, Pinkes fun yivo (Records of YIVO) (New York, 1927-1928), p. 261; Hadoar (New York) (September 19, 1927); Y. Khaykin, Yidishe bleter in amerike (Yiddish newspapers in America) (New York, 1946), pp. 244, 311-12; Kh. Sh. Kazdan, Fun kheyder un shkoles biz tsisho (From religious and secular primary schools to Tsisho) (Mexico, 1956), p. 234.

Khayim Leyb Fuks