Shraga Moshe Kalmanowitz was born in Rakov, Poland, in 1918 to Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz (1891-1964), the Rav of the town. His mother was the daughter of Rabbi Betzalel Hakohen, a dayan (rabbinical court judge) in Vilna and author of the Talmudic commentary Mareh Kohen, which appears in all printed editions of the Talmud.
He was a rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York, from 1964 to 1998. He was the eldest of three brothers. He also had two sisters.
At the age of 10 he began studying at the Mir yeshiva in Mir, Belarus, and later studied at the Kaminetz Yeshiva led by Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz.
He followed his father"s lead in overseeing the education of Sephardi North African students at the Mir Yeshiva. He was also close with Sephardi organizations in New York City.
He was one of the speakers at the grand opening of the mikveh of the Sephardi Brooklyn community on Avenue South.
He died on April 16, 1998 (20 Nisan 5758) in New New York His body was flown to Israel for burial beside his father’s grave in the Sanhedria Cemetery in Jerusalem.
