Lansky, Aaron

Lansky, Aaron

(1955– ) cultural activist; born in New Bedford, Mass. He graduated from Hampshire College (1977) and holds an M.A. from McGill University (1980). As founder of the National Yiddish Book Center in South Hadley, Mass. (1980), he rescued some 850,000 discarded Yiddish books in an effort to preserve and revitalize Yiddish culture. A winner of many awards from Jewish organizations, he received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1989.