Alexander Zederbaum

Born in Zamosc, Poland, Alexander Zederbaum was a journalist, editor, and a champion of the Haskalah. Settling in Odessa in 1840, Zederbaum became a central figure in maskilic circles through his role as editor and newspaper publisher. In 1860, he founded Ha-melits, the first Hebrew weekly in the Russian Empire, a paper that he published until the end of his life. In 1862, he established Kol mevaser, a hugely influential Yiddish weekly—the first of its kind in Russia—that provided a space for the development of writing in Yiddish by writers such as Sholem Yankev Abramovitsh and Sholem Aleichem. Zederbaum also established the Russian Jewish newpaper Razsvet.

To succeed, Zederbaum had to navigate many obstacles. His statement of purpose declared that he hoped to carve a path between Jewish interests and those of the Russian government. He published imperial decrees relating to Jews and news of Jews advancing in the public sphere. By reverse token, his papers carried news affecting Jews around the world. He had to tread carefully between Russophiles who disdained the paper as too Jewish and traditionalists who rejected its advocacy of modernization.

 Zederbaum moved to St. Petersburg in 1871; in his later years, he took a more overt political stance in his papers, speaking out against antisemitism and advocating for the early Zionist movement. He also wrote several books of fiction in Hebrew and Yiddish.