Yehezkal Steimatzky, founder of Israel’s largest chain of bookstores and a leading publisher, died here yesterday at the age of 83. Born in Russia, he attended the Commercial Institute of Moscow and received a law degree from Humbold University in Berlin.
A staunch Revisionist Zionist, Steimatzky was a member of the central committee of the Revisionist Party and a political secretary to Zeev Jabotinsky, the founder of Revisionism.
Steimatzky came to Palestine in 1925 and opened his first bookstore on Zion Circle in Jerusalem which still exists. At one time he had bookstores in Egypt, Lebanon and Cyprus. With 50 bookstores in Israel, he had the largest chain of bookstores in the Middle East. He and his son, Eri, were planning to open their first bookstore in New York City soon.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
