ARN LITOY

ARN LITOY (1878-March 26, 1952)

            This was the literary name of Arn Rabinovitsh, born in Kroki Krakes), near Retshitse (Rechytsa), Minsk district, Byelorussia.  He studied in religious elementary school, in synagogue study chamber, and in yeshivas in his hometown of Homel (Gomel).  He was an external student and received a teaching diploma in 1903 in Odessa.  He was a teacher in the Odessa Jewish high school.  He was a cofounder of “Agudat ḥoveve sefat ever” (Association of the lovers of the Hebrew language) and of the Jewish Literary Society in Odessa, as well as a press that brought out Russian-language books for Jewish children.  He debuted in print in 1903 in Hatsofe (The spectator), placed work in Reshimot (Notes), and contributed to the Russian-Jewish encyclopedia.  In 1917 he was an editorial board member of Haam (The people) in Moscow.  He wrote for Russian Jewish and Yiddish newspapers and other publications.  He also translated work from Russian and German.  In 1921 he made aliya to Israel, was a contributor to Haarets (The land) in Tel Aviv, and was a correspondent for Haolam (The world) in London and Paris.  He died in Tel Aviv.

Sources: D. Tidhar, in Entsiklopedyah leḥalutse hayishuv uvonav (Encyclopedia of the pioneers and builders of the yishuv), vol. 3 (Tel Aviv, 1949), p. 1166; Sefer haishim (Biographical dictionary) (Tel Aviv, 1937), p. 308.