# Leon Kamaiky > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Leon_Kamaiky > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Leon_Kamaiky.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Kamaiky > Source revision: 1323515981 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American publisher}} {{Infobox person | name = Leon Kamaiky | birth_date = {{Birth date|1864|04|13}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|1928|10|28|1864|04|13}} }} '''Leon Kamaiky''' (April 13, 1864 – October 28, 1928) was a Lithuanian-born Jewish-American newspaper owner and publisher. == Life == Kamaiky was born on April 13, 1864, in [Vilkoviskas](/source/Vilkavi%C5%A1kis), [Russia](/source/Russian_Empire) on April 13, 1864, the son of Behr Kamaiky and Zippora Urysohn. He immigrated to America in 1885, where he attended evening high schools in [New York City, New York](/source/New_York_City), and worked in merchandise from 1886 to 1888.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uWrXAAAAMAAJ|title=Who's Who in American Jewry, 1926|publisher=The Jewish Biographical Bureau, Inc.|year=1927|location=New York, N.Y.|pages=306|language=en|via=[Google Books](/source/Google_Books)}} The son of a rabbi, Kamaiky studied for some time in the [Jewish Theological Seminary of America](/source/Jewish_Theological_Seminary_of_America). In 1889, he became manager of the New York ''Jewish Daily News'', the first Yiddish daily newspaper in America. The paper was founded three years beforehand by his father-in-law [Kasriel Hirsch Sarasohn](/source/Kasriel_Hirsch_Sarasohn). He eventually became Sarasohn's partner, and after Sarasohn's death in 1905 he became the paper's owner. By then, he was also vice-president of the corporation that published the ''Jewish Morning Journal''. When the ''Morning Journal'' merged with the ''Daily News'' in 1928, he remained vice-president of the corporation that published the paper.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PrxtAAAAMAAJ|title=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia|publisher=The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Inc.|year=1942|editor-last=Landman|editor-first=Isaac|editor-link=Isaac Landman|volume=6|location=New York, N.Y.|pages=301|language=en|via=[Google Books](/source/Google_Books)}} In 1914, Kamaiky organized the Central Relief Committee, which collected over fourteen million dollars through Orthodox communities. In 1920, he travelled to Europe on behalf of stranded Russian and Polish refugees and organized transportation facilities for emigres. He was a director of [Yeshivah Isaac Elchanan](/source/Rabbi_Isaac_Elchanan_Theological_Seminary) and the Zionist organization [Mizrachi](/source/Mizrachi_(religious_Zionism)), and a member of Chevra Shatz (East Side Cultural Society), the Order Brith Abraham, the [American Jewish Congress](/source/American_Jewish_Congress), the [American Jewish Committee](/source/American_Jewish_Committee), and the [Federation of Jewish Philanthropic Societies of New York City](/source/UJA-Federation_of_New_York). He was also a founder and vice-president of the [Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society of America](/source/HIAS).{{Cite news|date=29 October 1928|title=Leon Kamaiky Dies; Newspaper Owner|volume=LXXVIII|page=23|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|issue=25846|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/10/29/91543266.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0}} Kamaiky attended the [Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun](/source/Congregation_Kehilath_Jeshurun). His first wife Rebecca Sarasohn was the daughter of his former partner Kasriel Sarasohn. He married his second wife Selma Rokeach in 1901, and their children were Israel, Mrs. Rebecca Schur, and Mrs. Miriam Lurie.{{Cite news|date=3 November 1928|title=Leon Kamaiky Dies; Newspaper Owner|volume=LXXVI|page=471|work=The Reform Advocate|issue=14|location=Chicago, I.L.|url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/refadv/1928/11/03/01/article/22/?e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI--------------1|via=[Historical Jewish Press](/source/Historical_Jewish_Press)}} Kamaiky died of heart failure in the Watkins Glen Sanatorium in [Watkins Glen](/source/Watkins_Glen%2C_New_York) on October 28, 1928. His funeral took place in Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, where prominent Orthodox leaders (including Rabbi [Moses S. Margolies](/source/Moses_S._Margolies)) paid tribute to him. He was buried in [Mount Carmel Cemetery](/source/Mount_Carmel_Cemetery_(Queens)).{{Cite news|date=30 October 1928|title=Leon Kamaiky, Jewish Publisher and Communal Worker, Dies at Age of 64|volume=5|page=1|work=[Jewish Telegraphic Agency](/source/Jewish_Telegraphic_Agency)|issue=1208|url=https://www.jta.org/archive/leon-kamaiky-jewish-publisher-and-communal-worker-dies-at-age-of-64}} == References == {{Reflist}}{{Authority control}} Category:1864 births Category:1928 deaths Category:People from Vilkaviškis Category:19th-century Lithuanian Jews Category:American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Category:19th-century Jews from the Russian Empire Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Category:19th-century American Jews Category:20th-century American Jews Category:American Jewish Congress members Category:American Orthodox Jews Category:Jewish Theological Seminary of America alumni Category:19th-century American newspaper publishers (people) Category:20th-century American newspaper publishers (people) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kamaiky, Leon}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Leon Kamaiky](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Kamaiky) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Kamaiky?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.