Adolf Yefimovich Landau, a prominent representative of the Haskala movement, played a leading role in early Jewish literature in the Russian language. A native of Riga, Landau took an active part in the cultural life of the capital in the 1870s-1890s. After 1871 he published ten volumes of collected historical and literary works "Yevreyskaya Biblioteka" ("The Jewish Library") in St. Petersburg. These included scholarly articles and journalism by the most outstanding representatives of the Jewish enlightenment - Lev Levanda, Lev (Leiba Yehuda) Gordon and others. The "Jewish Library" became a major Jewish publication and acquired wide popularity with the educated Jews of St. Petersburg and all of Russia, whose numbers were increasing.
From 1881 to 1899 Landau published the monthly magazine "Voskhod" (The Dawn) in Russian. It was the largest (and, after 1884, the only) Jewish periodical in the Russian language. Oriented towards the enlightenment, the magazine sought to achieve emancipation of the Jews, published the best works of Jewish Russian-language writers (Levanda, Grigory Bogrov, Semen Frug), articles on contemporary Jewry and numerous materials on Jewish history. It also published translations of Renan's historical works, the first Russian translation of Flavius Josephus' "Judaic Antiquities", and other works.
From 1882 to 1897, the "'Voskhod' Weekly Chronicle" was published as a weekly supplement to the magazine. The "Chronicle" played the role of a Russian-language newspaper for the whole of Russian Jewry during a very difficult time. The struggle for emancipation, and against anti-semitism, including official anti-semitism, exposed these publications to government sanctions. However, the magazine and its supplement were published until the end of the 19th century. Adolf Landau succeeded in creating a well-established publishing company, uniting the magazine, a publishing company and a printing office. Landau's publications were sold throughout Russia.
Adolf Landau's publications contributed to the development of Jewish studies in Russia. Publication of studies on Jewish history compiled by Jews themselves was the greatest achievement of the post-reform Russian-Jewish press. Published in Russian, works on Jewish history were accessible to educated Jewry as well as the Russian public. It was at this time that Ilya Orshansky, and Avraam Garkavy published their fundamental works. They not only laid down the scholarly basis for studies in Jewish history but also furthered Jewish national self-awareness.