LEVY, ALBERT J.

LEVY, ALBERT J. (1897–1962), editor and journalist. Levy was born in Salonika and graduated from L'Ecole Normale of that city. After working as a teacher and editor of the Thessaloniki political daily El Liberal, Levy immigrated to the United States in 1917. In the United States, he is first mentioned as the editor of a humorous publication, "El Kirbach Amerikano," in a 1918 issue of La Boz del Pueblo. In 1918, after the eclipse of his newspaper, Levy became the editor of the Sephardi socialist tabloid, El Proletario. He founded the serious-humorous newspaper, La Vara, in 1922 and served as its editor for the majority of its lifespan. In 1926–27, he published El Luzero Sefaradi with Moise Soulam. Financial difficulties forced him to move to Seattle where from 1931 to 1934, he served as principal of the talmud torah in Seattle, Washington, still retaining his position at La Vara. The school improved significantly under his leadership, but conflicts with his board convinced him to return to New York in 1934, though he was forced to return to Seattle in 1945 for health reasons. He tried his hand at business, but he was less than successful so he returned to heading a school and served as the principal of the Sephardi Bikur Holim Hebrew School and later entered the furniture business. Levy wrote for a number of publications, including the Hebrew weekly Hadoar, and was active in a number of Sephardi organizations. He served as president of the Congregation of Love and Brotherhood in Monastair and on the Central Council of the Sephardic Brotherhood of America. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Ben-Ur, introduction to "Scrapbooks of Albert David Levy," a microfilm held at the University of Washington   (OCLC: 44390739); idem, "In Search of the American Ladino Press: A Bibliographical Survey, 1910–1948," in: Studies in Bibliography and Booklore, 21 (Winter 2001), 10–52. (Randall C. Belinfante (2nd ed.)