Aaron Lansky
Born in 1955
Aaron Lansky is the founder of the Yiddish Book Center, an organization dedicated to salvaging Yiddish language publications.
Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, Lansky began his mission to save Yiddish books in the early 1980s when experts believed fewer than 70,000 volumes remained.
His efforts earned him a MacArthur Fellowship in 1989.
Lansky authored "Outwitting History" in 2004, an autobiographical account of his lifelong work preserving Yiddish literature.
The book won the 2005 Massachusetts Book Award and details his journey from the 1970s to the present day, chronicling how he saved millions of Yiddish books from destruction and oblivion.
