Max Rabinoff, Noted American Jewish Impressario Dead; Was 87

Max Rabinoff, Jewish impressario who developed popular-priced opera presentations in the United States, collapsed of a heart attack yesterday and died at the age of 87. He was born in Moghilev, Russia and came to the United States at 13 and he landed a job as a tobacco stripper in Chicago. Later he studied chemistry at the University of IIIinois. Subsequently he became a highly successful piano salesman. While in that work he organized a series of Sunday concerts in the Chicago auditorium.

In 1915 he bought the Boston Opera Company and combined it with the Pavolova Ballet Russe which he sent on a 35-week, 12, 000-mile tour. A linguist in seven languages, he was a volunteer worker for the U.S. Government in World War I. His proposal to convert the old Mecca Temple in Manhattan into a cultural center resulted in establishment of the New York City Center, one of the city’s major centers of theater, opera and concerts.