LEVI BERMAN (b. April 2, 1895)
He was born in the small settlement in Lithuania known as
Pikeln (Pikeliai), into a well-to-do family. He studied in religious elementary school and
in a public school. From 1911 he was
living in Vilna, and in 1915 he left for the United States. He began writing at age ten and sent poems to
Bal-Makhshoves who in an article—in Der fraynd (The friend) in 1910—commended
the poet. However, Bal-Makhshoves
radically altered the meaning of Berman’s poem Di ershte megile fun der goyle
(The first scroll of the Diaspora) (Vilna, 1913), 112 pp. In the United States, Berman published in Shriftn
(Writings), Tsukunft (Future), and Fraye arbeter shtime (Free
voice of labor), among others.
Sources:
Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1; Khayim Krol, Arum zikh (Around
itself) (Vilna, 1930), p. 68.
My mother was Levi's first cousin.
ReplyDeleteWe would visit him near Harold Sq. apt. I remember him as a gentle person. He also had a place in Peekskill. His brother settles in South Africa and became an MP from Bloemfontein. Just a few remembrances.