Abraham Leon Kaplansky (; 1 May 1860 – 5 July 1939) was a Canadian

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * Jame ...

, lawyer, and communal worker, who established Canada's first

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

printing press.

Biography

Kaplansky was born in

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Białystok is located in the Białystok Up ...

, where he trained and worked as a printer. He immigrated to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1889, where he entered the steamship ticket business, before moving to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1893. There he established the first Hebrew and Yiddish printing press in Canada, using type imported from New York, which largely produced booklets, pamphlets, and other

ephemera Ephemera are transitory creations which are not meant to be retained or preserved. Its etymological origins extends to Ancient Greece, with the common definition of the word being: "the minor transient documents of everyday life". Ambiguous in ...

. Among Kaplansky's first publications were calendars for the Jewish years 5655 and 5656. In 1906 he was made a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the District of Montreal, and the following year he took up the study of law. He was appointed head of the

legal aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to co ...

service of the Baron de Hirsch Institute in 1910. Kaplansky became the first

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of the Montreal Jewish Court of Arbitration when it was founded in 1915 under the auspices of the institute. Kaplansky was meanwhile active in a number charitable institutions and fraternal societies. He served as District Deputy Grand Master of the Independent Order of the Sons of Benjamin, as Treasurer of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, and as president of the

Chevra Kadisha The term ''Chevra kadisha'' (Modern Hebrew: חֶבְרָה קַדִּישָׁא) gained its modern sense of "burial society" in the nineteenth century. It is an organization of Jewish men and women who see to it that the bodies of deceased Je ...

congregation. He was also instrumental in establishing the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society of Canada. On his death in July 1939, the

Jewish Telegraphic Agency The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service, founded in 1917, serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world as well as non-Jewish press, with about 70 syndication clients listed on its web ...

described Kaplansky as "one of the best known Jews in Canada".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaplansky, Abraham 1860 births 1941 deaths 20th-century Canadian lawyers Canadian Jews Canadian printers Lawyers from Montreal Emigrants from the Russian Empire Russian emigrants to Canada