KAUFMAN, ARKADYA (AARON):

By: Herman Rosenthal, J. G. Lipman

Russian communal worker; born at Grodno early in the nineteenth century; died at St. Petersburg April 19, 1893. While receiving a thorough Talmudic education he acquired also by his own unassisted efforts the French and German languages. He made a study of forestry in its relation to ship-building and was appointed by the government overseer of shipyards. Kaufman was an authority on sculpture and painting, and possessed a valuable art collection, as well as a collection of rare Hebrew books and manuscripts. He took a deep interest in the affairs of the St. Petersburg community, and it was as a result of his efforts that it received permission to establish a Jewish cemetery and erect a synagogue.

H. R. J. G. L.