Medres, Israel Jonah

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MEDRES, ISRAEL JONAH

MEDRES, ISRAEL JONAH (1894–1964), Yiddish journalist. Born in Lekhovich (Lyakhovichi), Minsk province, Belorussia, Medres studied at the Lida Yeshivah before immigrating to Montreal. From 1922 to 1964 he was a full-time staff writer for the Montreal daily, Der Keneder Adler (The Jewish Daily Eagle). His numerous articles (many reprinted in Yiddish publications worldwide) and two books, Montreal fun Nekhtn ("Montreal of Yesterday," 1947) and Tsvishn Tsvey Velt Milk-homes ("Between Two World Wars," 1964), provide a wealth of information about almost every aspect of Jewish immigrant life in early 20th-century Canada.

bibliography:

lnyl, 5 (1963), 541; C.L. Fox, Hundert Yor Yidishe un Hebreishe Literatur in Kanade (1980), 160–61; J. Gallay, in: C. Spilberg and Y. Zipper (eds.), Canadian Jewish Anthology (1982), 477–80; M. Ravitch, Mayn Leksikon 4/2 (1982), 87–88; I. Medres, Montreal of Yesterday (2000), 13–20; I. Medres, Between the Wars (2003), 9–14.

[Vivian Felsen (2nd ed.)]