Modest Stein

Modest Stein (1871–1958), born Modest Aronstam, was a Russian-born American illustrator and close associate of the anarchists Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman. He was Berkman's cousin and intended replacement in the attempted assassination of Henry Clay Frick, an industrialist and union buster, in 1892. Later Stein abandoned active anarchism and became a successful newspaper, pulp magazine, and book illustrator, while continuing to support Berkman and Goldman financially.

Stein was born Modest Aronstam in Kovno, Russian Empire, on February 22, 1871, and was nicknamed "Modska". His father, Lazar Aronstam, was a pharmacist who moved to Kovno from Vilna. Modest was the cousin of Alexander Berkman (Stein's father and Berkman's mother were siblings), and attended the same gymnasium. The two were similar both physically, being short though muscular, and politically, supporting militant anarchism. Modest was driven to a career in art, which Lazar disapproved of, forcing Modest to sneak downstairs at night to practice drawing or painting when his parents were asleep. At the age of 17, in 1888, Modest left Russia for the United States to be able to pursue his art career; this was soon after Berkman had also left for the US.

Modest Aronstam arrived in New York City on August 4, 1888, and met up with Berkman soon after arriving. He joined the same Jewish anarchist group, the Pioneers of Liberty. The two accompanied each other everywhere, their friends calling them "the Twins", and considering them "shining lights of the organization". The cousins shared an East Broadway apartment with a third Pioneer named Michelman, when their money allowed, or a park bench when it didn't.

In 1889, the two moved into a four-room apartment on 42nd Street with Berkman's lover Emma Goldman, and her friend Helene Minkin (who would later marry German-American anarchist Johann Most). They formed a commune inspired by Nikolai Chernyshevsky's novel What Is to Be Done?, trying to actualize their shared ideals of women's equality and cooperative living. While the other three worked making clothing in factories or at home, Modest continued trying to become a professional artist, occasionally selling pictures, but mostly funded by the other roommates, or by money sent by his parents in Russia. When he did sell one of his paintings, Modest would sometimes spend the money on "beautiful" luxuries, such as flowers, or fashionable clothes, which made Berkman fume. On one occasion when Modest overspent on a meal, Berkman actually struck him, calling this theft from the revolution.

...
Wikipedia