Leo Frisch, a pioneer of Jewish journalism who served as editor and publisher of the American Jewish World, the local weekly, from 1912 to 1972, died June 29 at the age of 94 of natural causes, according to Robert Krishef, editor and general manager of the weekly. Services were held on July 2 at Adath Yeshurun Congregation, a Conservative synagogue to which Frisch belonged.
Frisch was brought to the United States from Lithuania when he was II. He was born in Suvalki, Poland in 1890. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1912, beginning his newspaper career the same year.
Frisch was a member of the board of directors of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency for many years during the 1940’s and 1950’s. He had been a member of the Minnesota Newspaper Association and of the Minessota Press Club. He had been a life board member of the Talmud Torah of Minneapolis and an executive board member of the Minneapolis Federation for Jewish Service.
Frisch also had been a member of the American Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee and had been honored, in 1982, for 70 years of service to B’nai B’rith. He had been a vice president of the American Jewish Press Association for several years.
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.
