Moshe Shimon Antokolski — Association of Jews of Vilna and vicinity in Israel

Moshe Shimon Antokolski was born in Antokol (from whence the family name), a suburb of Vilna in the north-west of the Russian Empire, in 1850. His father, Baruch Reuven, was the brother of the well-known artist Marc Antokolski. His father died when he was 8 years old but despite the family's straitened financial circumstances, his mother sent him to the best teachers. He later studied at Ramailis Torah Academy with Rabbi Shmuel Isser Kahane and excelled at his studies. He was married in 1867 and he and his wife had several daughters and one son (Baruch Reuven who died in 1898 at the age of 25).

In 1869 he was ordained as a rabbi by Rabbi Yehoshua Yitzhak Shapira from Slonim and Rabbi Shmuel Strashon (Rashash) from Vilna. Rabbi Strashon's son, Matityahu, was one of his closest friends. In 1870 he edited Mekorei Harambam (The Rambam's Sources) by Rabbi Shmuel Strashon to which he added comments and new interpretations.

In 1873, three years after Rabbi Shmuel Finn had turned the magazine Hacarmel into a monthly, Antokoloski was appointed as his assistant. He published commentaries and Torah articles in Hacarmel, Hatzefirah, Hamagid, Halevanon, Ha'asif, Gan Perahim and other anthologies. In 1906, he published Hakerem, an anthology of literature and science, with the Shraga Feivel Garber publishing house in Vilna.

He had trouble making a decent living and remained very poor: he had to work as a traditional preacher for a livelihood. Antokolski died in 1911 at the age of 61. He left a wife, married daughters and grandchildren.

source: Wikipedia