1. Alexander Smukler is a former managing partner of Ariel Investment Group, which develops commercial enterprises and civil engineering projects in Russia.
17 Facts About Alexander Smukler
1. 2.
Alexander Smukler left the Soviet Union in 1991 and moved to the United States, where he became a prominent member of the American Jewish community and continued his activism on behalf of Jews from the former Soviet Union.
3.
Alexander Smukler was elected president of National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry in 2008.
4.
Alexander Smukler's mother was a doctor who worked in a space-related research program.
5.
Alexander Smukler completed undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Moscow University of Technology in civil construction.
6.
Alexander Smukler was refused permission to emigrate and forced to live on odd jobs.
7.
Alexander Smukler was a Hebrew student of Yuli Edelstein, a refusenik who later became speaker of the Israeli Knesset.
8.
In 1987, Alexander Smukler became the editor of The Information Bulletin on Issues of Repatriation and Jewish Culture and joined the organizational committee Mashka.
9.
In 1987, Alexander Smukler told The New York Times that the policies of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev gave some hope that the Soviet Union would become more democratic.
10.
Alexander Smukler presented Uris with an underground handmade copy of Uris' novel Exodus in Russian.
11.
One witness at the meeting said that Alexander Smukler's gift brought Uris close to tears.
12.
Alexander Smukler was the founder of Vaad, the first independent Jewish movement in the Soviet Union.
13.
Alexander Smukler was the executive director of B'nai B'rith of the USSR and the Jewish Information Center of Moscow.
14.
Alexander Smukler told The Jewish Chronicle that year that there was no decrease in antisemitism in the Soviet Union and there were almost daily antisemitic demonstrations.
15.
In 2004, Alexander Smukler was elected vice president of the National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry.
16.
In 2020, Alexander Smukler said he was surprised that the Conference of Presidents elected Dianne Lob as incoming chair.
17.
Alexander Smukler is the president and founder of the American Foundation for Orphans Abroad.