Avraham Duber Kahana Shapiro

Avraham Dov-Ber Kahana Shapiro (1870 – February 27, 1943) was the last Chief Rabbi of Kovno (Kaunas, Lithuania) and the author of Devar Avraham, a three-volume collection of responsa (answers to questions of religious practice).

[1] He was born in 1870[2] to Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Sender, a Kohen (hereditary Jewish priest) and author of Sefer Chidushei HaGarzas on Kodshim,[3] on October 5 on the night immediately following Yom Kippur, in the city of Kobryn.

[2] At 18 years old he was drafted into the Russian army and sent to Minsk, where he used his limited spare time to "clandestinely enter the local Beis Midrash (study house)...

The Rav [rabbi] of Minsk, R[abbi] Yerucham Yitzchak Perlman" worked to obtain his release, and subsequently "took him as a son-in-law.

"[3] In 1896 he received his first rabbinical position at the age of 25, upon the passing of his father-in-law,[3] and was named Chief Rabbi of the city of Kovno in 1923.