Ben Avigdor (Shalkovitz, Leib; Shelkowitz, Abraham Leib)

(1867-1921)

   Polish Hebrew writer and publisher. He lived in Warsaw, where he founded the series of small booklets called 'Penny Books', which contained Hebrew belles-lettres. These introduced European literary trends into Hebrew literature. In 1893 he established the Ahiasaph publishing company and later the Tushiyyah company, which published hundreds of Hebrew books. He founded the children's weekly Olam Katan in 1901, and the Ahisepher publications in 1913.