Brutzkus, Boris Dov

Boris Dov Brutzkus (1874 Polangen – 1938 Jerusalem) was a prominent Russian-Jewish agrarian, economist, and Jewish public activist. He is well known as the author of works on the agricultural settlement of Jews in Russia. Brutzkus studied agriculture in Poland and in 1899 explored Jewish agricultural colonies in Poland, Lithuania, Belorussia, and the Ukraine. In 1902 he became head of the agriculture department of the Jewish Colonization Association (JCA/ICA) in Russia. In 1907 he became a lecturer at the Agricultural Institute in St. Petersburg, and in 1908 he resigned from JCA because of disagreement with its philanthropic approach. At the same time, he was a leading figure in Simon Dubnow’s autonomist Folkspartey, and nevertheless showed interest in a settlement in Eretz Israel. He also worked for the ORT (The Society for Handicrafts and Agricultural Work among the Jews in Russia). In 1922 Brutzkus was arrested and expelled from the USSR. He settled in Berlin, where until 1932 he served as a professor at the Russian Scientific Institute. In 1923-1925, together with other scholars, Boris Dov Briutzkus edited the Bleter far Yidishe Demografye, Statistik un Ekonomik. He was also active in the YIVO (Yiddish Scientific Institute) Institute in Vilnius. After Adolf Hitler came to power Brutzkus settled in Paris. In 1935 he moved to Jerusalem and became a professor of agrarian economy at the Hebrew University. Boris Dov Brutzkus’ personal collection contains his publications and manuscripts, his memoirs and curriculum vitae, bibliographies of his works, publications on his public activities, correspondence of him and of his family -- Read more