Aaron Lansky
Encyclopedia
Aaron Lansky is the founder of the National Yiddish Book Center
, an organization he created to help salvage Yiddish language
publications. When he began saving books in the early 1980s, most experts believe that there were fewer than 70,000 Yiddish volumes extant. He received a MacArthur Fellowship
in 1989 for his work.
He is also the author of Outwitting History
(2004), an autobiographical account of how Lansky saved the Yiddish books of the world, from the 1970s to the present day. It won the 2005 Massachusetts Book Award.
National Yiddish Book Center
The National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States, on the campus of Hampshire College. It is a cultural institution dedicated to the preservation of books in the Yiddish language. It is a member of Museums10 and is a non-profit institution, and its cultural programs are...
, an organization he created to help salvage Yiddish language
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
publications. When he began saving books in the early 1980s, most experts believe that there were fewer than 70,000 Yiddish volumes extant. He received a MacArthur Fellowship
MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T...
in 1989 for his work.
He is also the author of Outwitting History
Outwitting History
Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky is a book about Lansky and his book-saving adventures. At age 23 Lansky read that thousands of the few remaining Yiddish books in North America were being discarded by the children of the books' original Yiddish-speaking owners. The books meant nothing to many of...
(2004), an autobiographical account of how Lansky saved the Yiddish books of the world, from the 1970s to the present day. It won the 2005 Massachusetts Book Award.