Ya'akov Ze'ev Latsky ("Bertoldi") (1881–1940) was a Jewish Ukrainian political and Yiddishist activist and briefly a Minister in the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

in 1918. First a member of Herut around 1901, he joined in December 1904 the new

Zionist Socialist Workers Party Zionist-Socialist Workers Party (), often referred to simply as Zionist-Socialists or S.S. by their Russian initials, was a Jewish territorialist and socialist political party in the Russian Empire and Poland, that emerged from the ''Vozrozhdenie ...

to whose Central Committee he was elected in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

. He was closely associated with the theorist of Labour Zionism and leading advocate of Territorialist Zionism,

Nachman Syrkin Nachman Syrkin (also spelled ''Nahman Syrkin'' or ''Nahum Syrkin''; ; 11 February 1868 – 6 September 1924) was a political theorist, founder of Labor Zionism and a prolific writer in the Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian, German and English languages. ...

. After the 1917 Revolution, he joined the Folkspartei. In April 1918, he was appointed Minister for Jewish Affairs in the

, replacing Fareynikte

Moishe Zilberfarb Moishe Zylberfarb (, ) was a Ukrainian politician, diplomat, and public activist of Jewish descent. He was one of the authors of the Law of Ukraine about national-individual autonomy (1918) which later was canceled by the Communist regime. Brie ...

. He was succeeded briefly by Solomon Goldelman, then in January 1919 by Abraham Revutzky of

Poale Zion Poale Zion (, also romanized ''Poalei Tziyon'' or ''Poaley Syjon'', meaning "Workers of Zion") was a movement of Marxist–Zionist Jewish workers founded in various cities of Poland, Europe and the Russian Empire at about the turn of the 20th c ...

. In October 1918, he was amongst the founders of an important Yiddish publishing house ''Folks-Farlag'', initiated by intellectuals affiliated to the Folkspartei, like himself. In 1920, he emigrated to Germany, where he continued searching for places to build a Jewish homeland. From 1923 to 1925 he traveled around the Jewish settlements in South America, about which he wrote a book, ''Einwanderung in di Yiddish Ishuwim in Dorem America'' (Immigration to the Jewish Communities of South America, 1926). In 1925, he moved to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, where he published the daily Yiddish newspapers ''Dos Folk'' and ''Freemorgn''. By the end of 1925 he had become disillusioned with Territorialism and switched to Zionism, immigrating to Eretz Yisrael. There, he became a member of Mapai and was deputy director of the

Histadrut Histadrut, fully the New General Workers' Federation () and until 1994 the General Federation of Labour in the Land of Israel (, ''HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael''), is Israel's national trade union center and represents the m ...

archives.

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Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

: "Einwanderung in di Yiddish Ishuwim in Dorem America," 1926 {{DEFAULTSORT:Latsky, Zeev 1881 births 1940 deaths Jews from the Russian Empire Jewish ministers of Ukraine Jewish activists Politicians from Kyiv People from Kiev Governorate Folkspartei politicians Zionist Socialist Workers Party politicians Yiddish-language writers Histadrut Mapai politicians Labor Zionists Ashkenazi Jews in Mandatory Palestine