Alexander Harkavy (1863–1939), born in Novogrudok (Russian Empire) was a writer, lexicographer and linguist, famous for his work on the Yiddish language. Educated privately, at an early age he showed a talent for philology. In 1879 he went to Vilna, where he worked in the printing-office of the Widow and the Brothers Romm. After the 1881–1882 pogroms in the Russian Empire, Harkavy joined the Jewish Am Olam back-to-the-land movement. Unlike Bilu, which directed its activities towards Palestine, Am Olam saw a Jewish future in the United States. In 1882, Harkavy emigrated to the United States but did not succeed in joining or establishing an agricultural entity, finding himself in search of a living. He moved to Paris in 1885, New York in 1886, Montreal in 1887–1889, Baltimore in 1889 and back to New York in 1890. During these years of wandering Harkavy studied, taught, and published his first journalistic and scholarly compositions. In Montreal, he achieved some acclaim among local Hebraists and founded a branch of the Lovers of Zion, of which he served as president. He served as a representative of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Harkavy published in lithograph form one issue of a Yiddish newspaper, Die Tzeit (The Time), the first Jewish newspaper in Canada. He also wrote the first history of the Jews in Canada. Back in the United States he participated in the activities of the anarchist group Pioneers of Liberty. In Baltimore he published Der Idisher Progres (Jewish Progress) in 1890. He was one of the contributors to the Jewish Encyclopedia. Harkavy also worked on translating Scripture into English, starting with Genesis (published 1915), then Psalms (1915), then The Twenty-Four Books of the Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text (1916), with reprintings following.