The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language

Yiddish linguist, educator, and activist Yudl Mark was born in Palanga (in contemporary Lithuania) and studied history and philology at Petrograd University, where he was active in Jewish politics. Mark helped found YIVO and the Yiddish Real-Gimnazye in Vilkomir (contemporary Ukmerge, Lithuania). In addition, he taught at various schools and seminaries in Lithuania. He was a correspondent for the Forverts in New York, and, after settling there in 1936, he edited the YIVO journal Di yidishe shprakh and contributed to a wide range of Yiddish political, literary, and educational publications. He settled in Jerusalem in 1970.

Yiddish scholar, philologist, and lexicographer Judah A. Joffe was born in Bakhmut (in contemporary Ukraine) and came to the United States in 1891. Joffe specialized in classical and comparative philology as well as phonetics and historical English grammar. He was a strong advocate for standardized Yiddish spelling. As a musicologist and expert on Slavic languages, he contributed to several years of the International Yearbook, as well as the New International Encyclopedia (1902). In addition, Joffe translated works from Yiddish, English, and French and lectured on Russian language at Columbia University.