Aharon Meskin

Aharon Meskin was born in 1898 in Shumyachi

Aharon Meskin was born on 22 March 1898 in Shumyachi, in the Mogilev Governorate of the Russian Empire. His parents were Moshe Meskin and Rashel Chasanov, and his father was a shoemaker. He studied in a cheder and a school, later worked as a metal worker and took part in revolutionary activity.

After the Russian Revolution he joined the Red Army and became an officer. In 1919 he was in charge of food distribution in Moscow, and he helped supply food to the new Habima Theatre. He joined Habima in 1922 and appeared in its production of The Dybbuk.

In 1928 he immigrated to the Land of Israel with the Habima company and acted with the theater until his death. His roles included the Golem, Othello, Shylock, Willy Loman, Stephen Kumalo and Captain Queeg. He also appeared in films such as Sabina and the Men and Two Kuni Lemel.

His last role was in The Gypsies of Jaffa by Nissim Aloni, first staged in 1971. He was married to Sima and had two sons, the actor Amnon Meskin and Yuval Meskin of Kol Yisrael. He died on 11 November 1974 and was buried at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery in Tel Aviv, and a street there bears his name.