And now, about my dear Lyonya* Mezheritski, Gena* Malyshev and Osik* Ostrovski [* the short form of the name – Note of the Editor]. We studied together on the same course, spent almost 16 hours a day together. After the classes we grabbed our painter's cases and went outside the city to paint sunsets; in the evening we returned to the school for evening painting. We did not have weekends; we worked like fanatics. Lyonya Mezheritski was a God’s gift to man as a painter. He made quiet, sincere works akin to Schubert’s music. I remember his portrait of his wife with child, a real masterpiece.
Lev Mezhberg. “Few Grateful Words about Odessa Artists”. New York, 1985.
Published: Internet version of K.K. Kuzminsky’s and G.L. Kovalev’s “The Modern Russian Poetry Anthology “By a Blue Lagoon” in Five Volumes”

He liked the surrounding world with a hunger for learning, which is characteristic of those few who we, the average people, depict as great. …Depicting his eye-opening moments and revelations, he never “revealed” himself, as he was always “open”. He simply had no need to “close” himself as a person - strong physically, …hardened spiritually, having own esthetic and ethical harmony. Naturally, for all of us raised on…the soil of total unidirectional opinion, such behavior had a shocking effect.
Leonard-Oleg Morozov. “Uncle of Mine… My Uncle…”. 2008

Lyonya Mezheritski was a difficult person who did not believe in his painting abilities. He needed help to overcome this barrier of distrust that prevented him from expressing his real abilities. After some time, he became a good painter, finely feeling color and seeing the proportions and character of what he painted. And in his best works, a lyrical state when portrayed properly becomes a piece of art. …He was very good in theoretical subjects, especially in sciences, and often helped his friends.
Dina Frumina. “My Memories”.
Published: Edition “Galereya “Most” ”, Odessa. 2005

In his late 60s Leonid Yakovlevich [Leonid Y. Mezheritski – Note of the Editor] was incredibly able-bodied. When he was promised an exhibition in Tel-Aviv, he started creating frames for his paintings by himself. …He worked days and nights with the tools he brought with him. Ordering frames in Israel, as everywhere, costs a lot, and Mezheritski had always been low on funds. But he was inventive, much like his brother, painter Eduard Morozov. They both lived in Karmiel and together were so good at using what they invented that a hoop and part of car’s engine in their hands began producing framing and applying it as well.
Boris Moroz. “Leonid Yakovlevich Mezheritski in Israel”. 2010

Dad liked to spend time with children when they were old enough to play chess and to explain math to them. From time to time he asked younger children to show him their school record book, at which point we had to vanish, have a walk somewhere, hoping that he would forget. Mainly, that’s how it happened. But when it did not work, hard times began. The only thing that helped us was that father was not eager to check our record books and pursue such obligations in general. He had his own special lifestyle. When I was young I did not understand it, …even judged it in my mind. Of course, other parents had normal lives: woke up early in the morning, were interested in everyday life, had regular salaries, created cozy homes…
Julia Muller. In “Interview with the Artist’s Daughter”. 2007

Mezheritski said that he did not think of himself as a leading artist, nor as a fated one; he was “by himself”. At the same time, so called self-expression has never been the end of his work in itself. Lyonya [Leonid Mezheritski – Note of the Editor] rejected falseness in life and in painting. Many people thought of him as an “difficult” man. He really liked to argue; in every conversation he found a topic for debate. Mezheritski never fawned over “those in favor” even if they were artists with high status or teachers at the school. There were not many people among artists who Lyonya called his friends and who thought of him as a loyal, faithful and helpful friend as well.
Tamara Litvinenko. “To the Memory of the Artist and Friend”.
Published: Newspaper “Tikva” – “Or sameakh”. Odessa, № 2 of 9 January 2008