Osip Rabinovich

Osip Aronovich Rabinovich (; – ) was a Russian-Jewish writer, journal, and belletrist. He is notable as the founder of the first Jewish journal published in Russian.

Life

Rabinovich was born in Kobeliaky on to a well-off family. His father gave him an education in not only Hebrew and in European languages, history, mathematics, art, and music. Rabinovich could not complete his studies in Kharkov, as he needed to financially support his father. In 1845 he moved to Odessa and began to work as a notary.

He published his first literary work in 1847, a translation of Jacob Eichenbaum's work Ha-Kerav into Russian. He published a novel, Moritz Sefardi, in 1850; and wrote short stories as well. He was compared in style to Dmitry Grigorovich. He drew controversy from the Jewish community for his articles criticizing Jewish society; however, he also wrote articles criticizing Russian antisemitism.

He was the founder and co-editor (alongside Joachim Hayyim Tarnopol) of the first Jewish journal in Russian, Rassvet . The journal began publication in 1860, with contributors such as Lev Levanda and Isaac Markus Jost. However, it faced struggles due to strict government censorship, and lasted only 1 year, as they were made to cease publication by the government. The journal was passed to others, where it was published under the name Sion and published for another year.

As a writer, he was completely forgotten.