ASIMOV, Abraham Ber (Boris)

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Mathemetician
• Immigration: 1974, From Leningrad, USSR, to Israel

Notes:

Boris' niece, Serafima Asimova, wrote to Isaac Asimov in 1979 from Leningrad. She said: "Boris was living in Petrovichi for a long time, then he came to Moscow. He was mathematician. Later his sick father -- grandfather Aaron -- came to his house....After the war, Boris lived in Leningrad. He had no family and was alone. Now he is living in Israel."

In 2006, Serafima wrote more about Boris in an email. She said: "(Like his brother Samuel), Boris too had huge propensities to mathematics. It also became then the teacher of mathematics though very much loved poetry, knew by heart Pushkin, Tyutchev, Fet. Perfectly knew Sacred Classic Jewish language so then the Hebrew referred to."

"The daddy [Samuel Asimov], mum, I, uncle Boris and the [maternal] grandfather [Samson Shmulevitch] lived in one room of a municipal apartment in the street Gogol 21, in Leningrad."

In another email, Serafima wrote: "Boris -- measured, slow, lyrical, the mathematician -- the theorist, writes verses in Hebrew. ...Boris lived with Aaron and Hanna - parents. Then, when his mum [Hanna] has died - he has left for Moscow. At Boris since the childhood the right foot was not bent - in game boys have pushed - has fallen, has broken, there was no good doctor, in Smolensk the medical assistant has rescued a leg , but she has ceased to be bent. War began. ...

"Boris has left for evacuation to Tashkent. Once to me aunt Dvosja [sister of Judah, Boris, Samuel and Rachel] told, that in Moscow Boris married and he had wife and the daughter, but they tragically were gone. It has been told once, but I was more never about it heard. It was not accepted to speak never on this theme.

"[Boris' younger brother] Samuel has decided - it is necessary, that Boris Asimov has arrived to Leningrad, here to Life him it will be easier. ...Samuel has solved - I more sociable, I shall leave, and the room let remain to Boris. ...Samuel has taken all and has returned to a room to Boris. We lived all together in a small room - Uncle Boris, the daddy, mum, [maternal] grandfather Samson, I. It is 1953.

(By 1966) "Uncle Boris has remained in the room. It was very beautiful house in the center of Leningrad, but there it was difficult to live - there was no hot water...it was necessary to heat fire wood.
It is difficult for understanding. A room - in an apartment, where 3-5 more rooms. Another's people live in them. And only one room for uncle Boris.

"In 1968 to uncle Boris gave other room with hot water and heating and in 1974 he has left for Israel.
Uncle Boris is a lot of with me was engaged, he learned me to mathematics, he paid for my music education, and the piano has presented me, drove in museums and cinema. He very much loved me and I very much loved him. Boris was the religious person, he perfectly knew a Hebrew, wrote verses in a Hebrew, every day was engaged in a Torah."

Serafima writes that her son, Alexander -- who has taken the name of his grandfather, Samuel, since moving to Israel -- has inherited some traits from his Uncle Boris: "From Uncle Boris (though they saw only 2-3-times), Alexander - Samuel 1971 of a birth, has inherited love to poetry and the romantic attitude to a life."

In the late 1970s and early '80s, Boris' nephews Stanley and Isaac, and his niece Marcia, exchanged letters with him. He wrote in Yiddish, which Stanley or Marcia had translated. Stanley's secretary, Sylvia Smith, went to visit him. Sylviaibed Boris as living in impoverished circumstances, but unwilling to accept help.

He had a social worker, however, who tried to help him. In a letter to Stanley, Marcia and Isaac, social worker Colin Keye wrote that Boris had an eye operation and that that was the "straw that broke the camel's back." Boris was placed under state guardianship in an arrangement overseen by an American attorney, Arthur Rosenstein, of Hertzl St., Netanya. Boris received help from the Netanya (Israel) Social Services for the Elderly, Stamper ST. 5, Netanya, Israel.

In the last weeks of his life, he was placed in a psychogeriatric ward of this nursing home in Hadera, Israel: "Beit Noach, Shikun Weitzman," where he lived for about 6 weeks, and then died.

2008: (For the first time, Serafima sees the photos of Uncle Boris in his final years. She writes to her cousin, Nanette Asimov): "I have seen his photo and heart mine was compressed, and to eyes the tears have risen. I never saw him by such old and helpless. I knew him, as very courageous, hardworking man, which knew very much, as mathematics and the connoisseur talmud. He very well knew Russian classical poetry and itself wrote verses on ivrit. He very beautifully sang, he had warm baritone - vote, as Violoncello. I shall send his photos, I would like, that near to his surname other photo has appeared still."

Buried:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/764NjLFNqAJNhbWcA

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Dealer in grain: rye, oats, barley, buckwheat. In the family mill they prepared it to be cooked and eaten.
• Occupation: Dealer in raw linen:“penka,” “len,” and “poskany.” Able to sort out the linen by grade and quality.
• Religion: Jewish
• Residence: Petrovich, Russia

Notes:

In 1979, Serafima Asimova wrote to her cousin, Isaac Asimov, from Leningrad, and said that her Grandfather Aaron Asimov and Grandmother Hana Leikin Asimov had six children: Judah, Rachel, Dvosja, Boris, Ephraim and her father, Samuel.

Judah (1896 -1969) wrote a recollection of years in Russia and said that Aaron Asimov had been a grain dealer who sold rye, oats, barley and buckwheat.

Judah wrote that his father was a great believer in G-d.

He wrote that Aaron did not hit his children--except once. Judah was about 18 when he and his father asked the local rabbi to rule in a business dispute between them and another man whom they believed had deceived them. When the Rabbi ruled against Aaron and Judah, Judah objected. Aaron slapped Jack, saying that the decision was the Rabbi's to make and that they would abide by it.

Aaron was smart. When a new tax collector came to town, it was Aaron who noticed that the townspeople weren't being given receipts for the money they paid. Instead, the tax collector had them sign a paper after they paid. So Aaron asked for a receipt. The tax collector refused, so Aaron said he would neither pay nor sign.

It turned out that the paper everyone was signing was a lease that turned over their property to the tax collector and permitted him to raise their rent at will. So Aaron and the other townspeople took the tax collector to court in a case that went up to the Russian Duma. No one knows how the judge would have decided, however, because the year was 1917, and the Russian Revolution turned everything upside down.

Here is an excerpt from a 2006 email from Serafima Asimova, the daughter of Aaron's youngest son, Samuel, referring to the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in the 1920s:

"By then, it is the middle of 20 years [1920s], family of grandfather Aaron have deprived with all earned, mills, have forced to go to work ( hi there were 70 years) in collective farm."

Serafima also wrote that Aaron went to live in Leningrad with his son, Boris, in later years, and died in a hospital after an operation.

Died:
In an email much later, 2019, Serafima says Aron died in 1937

Aaron married LEIKIN, Hanna about 1893 in Petrovichi, Russia. Hanna (daughter of LEIKIN, Husband and UNKNOWN, Ziva) was born about 1870 in Hislavichi near Petrovichi, Russia; died about 1936 in Petrovichi, Russia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In his written recollections, Hana's son, Judah "Jack" Asimov (1896-1969) writes that his mother (whom he doesn't name) was the eldest of 8, with 2 sisters and 5 brothers.

Here is what Judah Asimov wrote:
"The eight children were all very smart people."
"The oldest brother was NOCHUM JACOB." (clever. grew a cucumber inside a bottle, then cut off the stem. Surprised the neighbors).
"Another brother was SCHMEREL." (ordained to be a rabbi, but preferred to be a businessman.)
"Another brother was ELIE." (great scholar. Had a Russian high school diploma -- a tough course of study. From 1912-14, he was a salesman for a coal mining co, and a newspaper correspondent in the city of Bachmut which has a new name now. )

Judah writes that his mother was well versed in Jewish ritual and prayed all the time with other women who didn't know how as much as she did. She was also very generous, and known for giving more food to beggars than the typical slice of bread or half kopek. She also gave yogurt, cheese and a piece of "shave" or herring. The family also had a couple of cows.

Judah also writes:
"I traveled to CHISLAVITCHI. That is the town where my mother’s mother and her brother lived..."

Irina Leikin, who is descended from Moshe Leikin (a brother of Hana?), also said the Leikins were from Hislavitchi.

Hana's granddaughter, Serafima Asimov, the daughter of Hana's son Samuel, writes in a 2006 email that "Anna Leikin [wife of Isaac Leikin] who came, too, either from Petrovitch or from Hislavitch.”

Serafima also wrote in that email: "My grandmother Hanna who…was very beautiful - was never photographed."

And in a 2016 email: “She was very beautiful, blue-eyed little woman. She had never been photographed. Children of (her were) loved and treasured. Hana Leikin explains when another's people kiss and father mother - scolds - is unequally. I this know on the memories of my dad Samuel Asimov. It is necessary to somehow write everything .... Time flies very quickly ….”

Here is what Judah wrote about his mother:

"My Father & Mother

To talk about my father (ZL), I must start with my mother.

She came from a family in which her mother counted more than her father, who was a very simple man but also very honest and pious. My grandmother, his wife, lived to a great old age. I believe she passed the hundred mark. She had 8 children. My mother was the oldest, and she had two sisters and five brothers.

They where all very smart people. For example, when the oldest of the brothers, Nochum Jacob, was about 11 years old, he made a little box and polished it and painted it. Inside, he fit a quart bottle and took it to their garden where they grew all kinds of vegetables for their use. He took a bud from a cucumber, placed it inside the bottle, and watched it grow. When he decided it was big enough, he cut the stem off, leaving that cucumber inside the bottle. He then filled it with preserves to make it last, and startled the neighborhood. How did he put such a cucumber inside such a small hole?

This was an example of how all of them were smart people. But my motherís brother Schmerel had (SMICHO OF HEIROO), which means he was ordained to be a rabbi but he preferred to be a businessman.

Her brother Elie, besides being a great scholar in Talmud, also had a Russian high school diploma. That was more education than at an American high school. From 1912 to 1914, he was a salesman for a coal mining company and a correspondent with a paper in the city of Bachmut, which now has a new name that I donít know.

That is the family my mother descended from. My mother was well versed in Jewish ritual. She used to pray all kind of prayers with other women who did not know how. In her charities, she was the most outstanding woman. In my time, there were poor Jews who used to go from town to town begging. The usual donation was half a kopek or a piece of bread. But my mother did not give the usual. All the beggars knew that. They used to come to her not when they were in the neighborhood but when they felt hungry. And my mother used to feed them with what you would call here yogurt, and cheese.

To make all of her preparations, we used to have our own two cows. Of course, sometimes she would give a plate of ìschave,î or a piece of herring. But she always fed everybody who came to here door. Besides, my father (ZL) used to bring an ìoirech,î a guest, for Saturday for three meals.

I remember once a preacher came to our town and my father (ZL) liked his preaching, so he invited him to come for Pesach [Passover]. But usually before Pesach the snow started melting, so he told the preacher to come two weeks before. And two weeks after Pesach, it was impossible to leave. So we had him for five weeks living with us in our house.

One more thing happened, while I am telling how my mother was charitable. A preacher came to our town, and for the first time in my 10 or 11 years, I saw a preacher, dressed in a white shirt with a tie and good clothes, who wouldnít sting unless somebody guaranteed 15 rubles, an unheard of sum of money at that time. But his name meant something to my father (ZL), and he guaranteed the sum of money. But when he went collecting, the townspeople did not want to give more for this preacher than for any other one. My mother thought over the situation and told my father (zl) to pay the full sum himself because she said the people would think now that if they gave, they would be giving for [my father]. The people had no obligation, and she said we would somehow get along if we paid out that much money ourselves and we would no longer ask for anything from anybody else. There were many times when she could have spent the charity money she divided for her own needs. But to her, a kopec was never better spent than for charity."

Notes:

Mendel was the youngest of 12 children of Abraham Ber and his first wife, and the only one of his siblings to survive infancy, according to the written recollections of his grandson, Judah (Jack) Asimov, 1896-1969.

In his recollections, Judah writes that although Mendel was "not a scholar," neither was he ignorant of Jewish reading and prayer -- only of the Talmud. Yet he was clever, and was elected several times to the "Society of Psalm of David Sayers." He also was in the Chevro-Kadisho, a volunteer group that took care of holy burials. Mendel's decision would prevail if there were disagreements in burial location, as there often were.

Mendel married UNKNOWN, Wife. Wife was born about 1850 in Russia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Husband married UNKNOWN, Ziva about 1875. Ziva (daughter of UNKNOWN, Unknown) was born about 1850 in Tatarinovo; died about 1950. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Residence: CHISLAVITCHI

Notes:

Her marrying into the Leikin family comes from Irina Leikin, who has said she is related to Grandpa Jack's mother's family (Anna Chaya).
At the same time, Grandpa Jack (Judah, 1896-1969), wrote that his mother's mother (he didn't name her), "counted more" than his mother's father, "who was a very simple man but a very honest and pious" man.

Grandpa Jack wrote that his mother's mother "lived to a great old age, I believe she passed the hundred mark."

Grandpa Jack wrote that his mother was the eldest child. She had two sisters and five brothers "and they were all very smart people."

Notes:

In his written recollections, Judah (Jack) Asimov, 1896-1969, wrote that his great-grandfather, Abraham Ber, died when Jack was 3 years old, but that he remembers being brought over to the death bed to be blessed, and that Abraham Ber gave him some sort of red jelly. That's all he remembered and could not visualize the old man's face.

But Jack remembered hearing stories that A.B. was smart, a great scholar, a "great and charitable man in town" and, "like his predecessors, a dealer in rye and other products."

A.B. and his first wife had 12 children -- all but the youngest, Mendel, died. So Mendel was, of course, precious to Abraham Ber.

Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992) quotes his father, Jack, in "In Memory Yet Green" regarding Abraham Ber: "The stories I heard about him were that he was a natural-born smart man, and that he was a great scholar. ... Like his predecessors, he was a dealer in rye and other products, and he was well known in town as a great and charitable man."

Abraham married SHEPSHELEVA, Sosya. Sosya was born in 1827 in Russia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She and Abraham Ber Asimov had 12 children, according to "In Memory Yet Green," which relies on the recollections of Judah "Jack" Asimov (1896 -1969). But only Mendel, the 12th child, survived.