Samuel Margoshes

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Samuel Margoshes (October 21, 1887 – August 23, 1968) was a Galician-born Jewish-American journalist, editor, and Zionist who wrote in Yiddish and English. He was born in Józefów, near Tarnów, Galicia, into a family with a strong tradition of Jewish learning; his grandfather edited a Hebrew periodical in the 1860s.

He studied at the local cheder and yeshiva, attended Tarnów’s gymnasium, and moved to America in 1905. Margoshes trained as a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, finishing in 1911, and earned a Master of Arts in philosophy and sociology at Columbia University that same year. He also studied education at Teachers College. In 1917 he earned a Doctor of Hebrew Literature from the Seminary.

He began writing in 1904 and soon joined New York’s Yiddish literary circle, Di Yunge. He published in Jewish weekly papers, helped run Di Yidishe Shtime, and, later, became editor of Der Tog, a position he held from 1926 to 1942, while also contributing English writings on Jewish life.

Margoshes held several educational and public roles. He directed the Bureau of Jewish Education (1912–1917) and worked for the Jewish Welfare Board (1917–1918). He was president of the Federation of Galician Jews of America (1916–1920), served on the American Jewish Congress board, and was on the Zionist Organization of America’s administrative committee. He was executive director of Keren Hayesod in Canada (1920–1921).

A devoted Zionist, he attended World Zionist Congresses and helped lead efforts against Nazi violence, including reporting on the 1929 Palestine riots and advocating for boycotts of Nazi goods. Denmark awarded him the Medal of Merit for his wartime work. His posthumous book In Gang fun Doyres appeared after his death.

He married Rose Kirschenbaum in 1904; she wrote under the name Kirschenbaum-Margoshes and helped immigrants, while their son Adam became a psychology professor. Margoshes died after a long illness on August 23, 1968, and was buried in Montefiore Cemetery.