Rozovsky Mark (1864-1941)

Rozovsky (Rosowsky) Mark (also Mordukh) (15 March 1864, the settlement of Naloboki, Vilna Governorate – 10 August / 13 November 1941) – lawyer and public figure.

Mark Rozovsky was born into the family of a synagogue oberkantor, Boris (Borukh) Rozovsky.

In 1883 he graduated from the Alexander Gymnasium in Riga. He then studied medicine at Kyiv University. In 1890 he graduated from the Faculty of Law of St Petersburg University. In 1890–1891 he worked as assistant to the sworn advocate Ermas in Riga, after which he moved to St Petersburg. From 13 February 1907 he practised as a sworn advocate in St Petersburg. He was a member of the Society for Jewish Folk Music and in 1917 was active in the Jewish People’s University.

In 1920 he returned to Riga. From 10 February 1921 he practised as a sworn advocate in Riga. He was active in the party “Progressive Association” and in the non-party group “Ahdut.” In 1922–1925 he served as editor and publisher of the Latvian democratic Jewish newspaper “Narodnaya Mysl.” From 1923 he contributed to the newspaper “Unser Weg” representing the party “Tseire Zion.”

In 1925 Mark Rozovsky stood as a candidate in the elections to the Riga City Council from the list of the United Jewish Bloc. For thirty years he was a member of the society “Palestine League in Latvia.” He served as treasurer of the Jewish Society of Lawyers, chairman of the Jewish Committee for the Re-evacuation of Refugees, deputy chairman of the emigration society “Gichem,” candidate member and later member of the board of the Society for the Promotion of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and was active in various charitable organisations.

In 1931 he stood as a candidate in the elections to the Fourth Saeima from the list of the Jewish Progressive Association but was not elected. From 1932 he was active in the Russian Legal Society in Latvia and served on its audit commission. He was chairman of the board of the Jewish Mutual Credit Society, chairman of the board of the First Riga Savings and Loan Society of Craftsmen and Merchants, and a board member of the joint-stock company “Emolip” and of the Russian Baltic Society for the Purification of Mineral Oils.

During the Soviet occupation Mark Rozovsky was arrested on 14 June 1941 and deported to the Solikamsk labour camp, where he died on 10 August 1941.

He was married to Deborah Rozovsky (1874 – 13 November 1947), a dentist, who from 1941 lived in exile in Krasnoyarsk Territory.