MOYSHE-KHAYIM LIKHTSHTEYN (MOJSZE CHAIM LICHTSTEIN)

MOYSHE-KHAYIM LIKHTSHTEYN (MOJSZE CHAIM LICHTSTEIN) (March 14, 1900-1961?)

            The son of Mortkhe Likhtshteyn, he was born in Nobel (Noble), near Pinsk, Byelorussia.  He studied at religious primary schools and later Talmud, commentaries, and Kabbala with his father.  He began reading works of the Jewish Enlightenment while still young, and he also wrote Hebrew poetry.  In 1920 he published an article on the painter Maurycy Minkowski in Tog (Day) in Vilna, and later published poetry and stories in the weekly newspaper Polyeser shtime (Voice of Polesia).  As a separate pamphlet he published Yoyne ben amitai (Jonah, son of Amitai), a historical tale (Warsaw: Mark Rakovski biblyotek, 1929), 32 pp.  In 1930 he immigrated to Paris.  Under the pen name “Ben Amitai,” he translated works by André Gide: Tsurik fun ratnfarband (Return from the Soviet Union [original: Retour de l’U.R.S.S.] (Warsaw, 1937), 88 pp.; and Retushn tsu mayn tsurik fun ratnfarband (Touch-ups to my “Return from the Soviet Union” [original: Retouches à mon “Retour de l’U.R.S.S.”]) (Warsaw, 1937), 110 pp.—both books were published by Herszauge.  He was active for a certain period of time in the French anarchist movement.  He was a contributor to the Parisian Bundist daily newspaper Unzer shtime (Our voice).  He published in Paris (1948-1957) Di fraye horzontn (Free horizons), “periodical for literature, art, and society” (about twenty issues appeared; and (1959-1960) Yid un velt (Jew and world), “bimonthly writing for literature, art, and Jewish issues” (four issues appeared).  He was the author of: Di bloye sho (The blue hour), poetry (Paris, 1962), 62 pp.  He also wrote under such pen names as: Avner, Nobler, and Lakhver.  He died in Paris.

Source: A. Reyzen, in Di feder (New York, 1949), p. 264.

Zaynvl Diamant

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 335.]