Nahum Sirotsky, Brazilian Jewish Journalist, Dies at 89
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Nahum Sirotsky, one of Brazil’s most veteran journalists, has died.
Sirotsky died on Saturday in Tel Aviv at the age of 89.
Sirotsky, who was Jewish, started his reputed career in the early 1940s and spent his last 20 years working as an international correspondent in Israel. He also served as a Brazilian diplomat in Washington and Tel Aviv.
Sirotsky worked as editor and international correspondent for some of Brazil’s most influential newspapers including O Globo, O Estado de S. Paulo, Jornal do Brasil, and Zero Hora.
He founded Senhor magazine, where he gathered his staff made up of Brazilian literature masters including Jorge Amado, Carlos Drumond de Andrade and Clarice Linspector.
As Brazil’s very first correspondent to the United Nations, Sirotsky covered the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. Later in 1967, he covered the Six Day War as a stringer in Israel.
Sirotsky’s death was announced by Brazil’s leading media outlets. He left one Brazilian-born son and five Israeli grandchildren.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
