Baruch Mordecai Kahan

KAHAN, BARUCH MORDECAI (pseudonym P. Virgily; 1883–1936), Bundist, born in Mogilev, Belorussia. His father Isaac, a wealthy Ḥasid, was the brother of Mordecai b. Hillel *Hacohen. Kahan, who studied in a yeshivah, joined the *Bund in Gomel, Belorussia, at the age of 18, becoming a professional revolutionary. In 1905 he helped to lead Jewish self-defense during the pogrom in Zhitomir and was one of the leaders during the revolution in *Lodz. He served as a reporter for the Bundist press. In the wake of a religious crisis, he returned to religion for a short time and worked as a simple laborer. He rejoined the Bund during World War I and in 1917 became a member of the Petrograd Soviet Workers' and Soldiers' Council. Between the two world wars he lived in Vilna, was active in ORT and YIVO and in Jewish education, and represented the Bund on the communal and municipal councils.

Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.