Vilenchik (Wilentschik) Yevgeny (Jevgenij) (1897–1941)

Evgeny Vilenchik was born on 14 September 1897 in Riga, into the family of a physician; his father was named Mark. From 1907, he studied at the Nikolayev Gymnasium in Riga. Upon graduating in 1915, he began studying law at Petrograd University, continuing from 1917 at Moscow University (until 1918). Between 1918 and 1919, he worked as a legal consultant in the Legislative Department of the People's Commissariat of Justice in Moscow. He subsequently headed the Expeditions Department at the Central Press Administration and served as legal adviser to the Moscow City Council of National Economy.

In 1920, he served in the Latvian Army, in the Justice Department of the Commandant's Office for Army Transit Stations and Districts, and later at a Military Tribunal. In March 1921, he was demobilised. That same year, he completed his legal studies at the University of Latvia. From 6 December 1921, he worked as an assistant to sworn advocate Z. Jacoby in Riga, and from 9 December 1931, as assistant to sworn advocate D. Elyashev in Riga.

Vilenchik held various community roles: secretary of the Riga Society, the Riga Jewish Community, and the Jewish Society for the Advancement of Science and Art; and legal adviser to the “Ivrit” Society of Jewish Schools. On 12 April 1935, by order of the Minister of Justice, he was removed from the register of assistant sworn advocates.

Between 1935 and 1937, he lived in France, working first in a restaurant and later for a publishing house. In 1937, he returned to Latvia and resumed offering legal services.

During the Soviet occupation, in January 1941, he was denied admission to the Bar. He perished in Riga during the German occupation in 1941.