Fitch (Feiczewicz), Louis
FITCH (Feiczewicz), LOUIS
FITCH (Feiczewicz), LOUIS (1889–1956), Canadian Zionist. Born in Suceava, Bukovina, Fitch was taken to Canada in 1891 by his parents, who settled in Quebec. He was associated with Samuel W. Jacobs, who became a member of the Canadian parliament in 1917, in the Ortenberg trial. In this trial Jewish citizens of Quebec laid charges of libel against antisemitic agitators who had stated that the Talmud permits Jews to harm Christians. In 1919 he was one of the founders of the Canadian Jewish Congress, of which he was the first secretary. In the early 1920s he was chairman of the schools committee of the Montreal Jewish Community Council, which was fighting for a separate Jewish school system in Quebec; the case reached the Privy Council in London. He later became president of the Canadian ort. In 1938 he was elected to the Quebec Provincial legislature, representing the Union Nationale Party, but was defeated the following year. Fitch published a number of historical works. He traveled extensively in Spain, North Africa, Mexico and Central America to research various aspects of the history of the Jews in Spanish-speaking countries, and made a special study of the Golden Age of Hebrew Literature in Spain.
Fitch remained an active Zionist throughout his life. He was vice president of the Zionist Organization of Canada from 1921 to 1940.