Aron Vergelis (Yiddish: אהרן װערגעליס; Russian: Аро́н А́лтерович Верге́лис; 7 May 1918, in

Liubar Liubar ( uk, Любар, russian: Лю́бар, pl, Lubar) is an urban-type settlement in Zhytomyr Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine. Population: History According to historical and archaeological data, Liubar is the possible location of the anc ...

(now in Zhitomyr Oblast) – 7 April 1999, in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

) was a Soviet poet and Jewish journalist who wrote in

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 ve ...

. Vergelis attended high school in

Birobidzhan Birobidzhan ( rus, Биробиджа́н, p=bʲɪrəbʲɪˈdʐan; yi, ביראָבידזשאַן, ''Birobidzhan'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia, locat ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, where his parents had moved in 1932 (

Jewish Autonomous Oblast The Jewish Autonomous Oblast (JAO; russian: Евре́йская автоно́мная о́бласть, (ЕАО); yi, ייִדישע אװטאָנאָמע געגנט, ; )In standard Yiddish: , ''Yidishe Oytonome Gegnt'' is a federal subject ...

). He published his first works in 1935 and his first collection of poems in 1940, the same year he graduated from the Lenin Moscow Pedagogical Institute. He took part in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, worked as an editor of Yiddish-language radio broadcasts and after the war as secretary of the Jewish department of the

Union of Soviet Writers The Union of Soviet Writers, USSR Union of Writers, or Soviet Union of Writers (russian: Союз писателей СССР, translit=Soyuz Sovetstikh Pisatelei) was a creative union of professional writers in the Soviet Union. It was founded ...

. He was one of the few Jewish writers who managed to avoid the purges of 1948–1953. In 1955, he became a member of the

CPSU "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

. From 1961 on, he served as editor-in-chief of the Yiddish-language journal '' Sovetish Heymland'' (''Soviet Homeland'')Encyclopaedia Judaica, second edition, volume 20, p. 510. while participating in Soviet anti-Zionist campaigns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vergelis, Aron 1918 births 1999 deaths 20th-century Russian male writers 20th-century Russian poets Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Moscow State Pedagogical University alumni Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Jewish anti-Zionism in the Soviet Union Anti-Zionist Jews Jewish poets Jewish socialists Jewish writers Russian communists Russian Jews Russian male poets Socialist realism writers Soviet Jews Soviet male poets Translators to Yiddish Yiddish-language journalists Yiddish-language poets