Public figure, economist, agricultural specialist. He was born in Vilnius, and studied agronomy at Zurich University. After returning to Russia he worked as an agronomist. In the 1900s he lived in Kiev, and was a member of the Kadet (Constitutional Democrat) party. In 1917 he occupied the post of plenipotentiary minister for agriculture in Ukraine, and was a deputy minister in the Central Rada (Council). After emigrating to Germany he joined the German Social Democrat party. From 1921 he was a member of the Central Board, and the Chairman of the Purchase Bureau, of the World ORT Union. He was director of the Tool Supply Corporation established by ORT in London in 1924, which provided Jewish artisans and farmers with machines, tools and raw materials on a credit basis. In 1940 he emigrated to the USA, where he contributed to the work of the Emergency Committee for the ORT Union activity in New York.