Aaron Lansky

Aaron Lansky (born June 17, 1955, in New Bedford, Massachusetts) is the founder of the Yiddish Book Center, an organization he created to help salvage Yiddish language publications. He received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1989 for his work.

Education

Lansky graduated from Hampshire College in 1977 with a B.A. in modern Jewish history, and earned an MA in East European Jewish studies at McGill University in Montreal.

He holds honorary doctorates from Amherst College (1998), the State University of New York, and Hebrew Union College.

Career

While a graduate student at McGill University, Lansky founded the Yiddish Book Center in 1980.

Lansky is the author of Outwitting History (2004), an autobiographical account of how he saved the Yiddish books of the world, from the 1970s to the present day. It won the 2005 Massachusetts Book Award. A children's book called “The Book Rescuer: How a Mensch from Massachusetts Saved Yiddish Literature for Generations to Come” also tells his story.

In February 2024, Lansky noted that he would be retiring from the Yiddish Book Center in June 2025.[1]

Notes

1. Lansky (surname)
2. Outwitting History
3. Aaron (given name)
4. Marjorie Guthrie
5. MacArthur Fellows Program
6. Yiddish Book Center
7. List of Hampshire College people
8. Jewish Book Council
9. A Gentle Madness
10. Secular Culture & Ideas
11. Sue Macy
12. Kathryn Hellerstein
13. Yiddish Theatre District
14. Avid Telecom
15. Elvis Presley
16. List of pornographic film directors
17. Speed Kills
18. Five Points Gang
19. Shane McRae
20. AnnaSophia Robb