Rabbi Meir Atlas was born in 1848 in Baisagola, Lithuania. In 1875, together with Rabbi Zvi Yaakov Oppenheim, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Abel and the help of a German Jewish layman, Ovadyah Lachman, Atlas founded the Telz Yeshiva in Telz, Poland. He later served as rabbi and spiritual leader in a number of cities, including Libau in Latvia, Salant in Lithuania and Kobryn in Belarus. In 1904, Rabbi Atlas was appointed rabbi to the community of Shaveli (Lithuania) for more then 20 years.
Rabbi Meir Atlas' sons-in-law included Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman,[2], Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski and Rabbi Yehudel Kahana Shapiro, the son of Rabbi Zalman Sender Kahana Shapiro..His son was Professor Shmuel Atlas of the Hebrew Union College. Rabbi Meir died in 1926