(August 1, 1869-October 7, 1933)
He was born in Riga, Latvia, to
well-off parents. The spoken language in
his home was German, but he attended a Russian high school. In the early 1880s his father became
impoverished, moved to the United States, and two years later (1886) young
Morris with his mother and other siblings moved to New York as well. He initially attended an English-language
middle school, but the extremely difficult material conditions of his family
compelled him to become a shirt-maker in a factory. He became interested in socialist issues as
early as his school years in Riga, and shortly after arriving in New York, he joined
the “Russian Progressive Union” which had only just been founded. Members of the Union were on the whole
Russian Jewish intellectuals who were engaged in setting up discussions and
lectures on political issues. A small
group within this circle was distinguished by their recognition of the need to carry
out socialist enlightenment work in Yiddish, and under the influence of Abraham
Cahan (Kahan) who was a central figure in the group, Hillquit learned to speak
Yiddish and thereafter was one of the first socialist speakers and lecturers in
Yiddish on the East Side of New York.
Still a shirt-maker, he was one of the founders of the first, actually
Jewish, Shirtmakers’ Union in American in October 1888, and he was one of the
founders and the first correspondence secretary (the protocol secretary was
Bernard Vaynshteyn) of the United Hebrew Trades, an association of all Jewish
trade unions in New York. When the
organization began to grow and strengthen itself, its leaders felt the need for
their own newspaper, as a Yiddish-language organ. Together with Kahan, M. Zametkin, Louis
Miller, B. Vaynshteyn, and others, Hillquit in March 1890 founded the social
democratic weekly newspaper, Arbayter
tsaytung (Workers’ newspaper), for which he wrote editorials, historical
treatises, and articles on popular scientific topics. In 1892 when Philip Krantz was editor of Arbayter tsaytung, Hillquit was
co-editor and business manager. Aside from
articles, in this short period, he also published popular songs, which he
signed “H-t” and “Der proletarisher bal-dover” (The proletariat culprit). In 1892 the Jewish section of the Socialist
Workers’ Party (Hillquit had been among its initiators) founded the monthly
journal Tsukunft (Future), in which
he published popular scientific articles.
When the Forverts (Forward)
was founded in 1897, he was initially among its contributors (he also used the
pseudonym “Hamenagen” [the musician]).
Aside from his intensive work with the nascent Yiddish socialist press, his
Yiddish style remained overly Germanized, even for that epoch. He soon switched to English and for a time
worked as a teacher of English for immigrants.
In 1893 he graduated from New York University Law School and soon began
practicing as an attorney. Bit by bit he
withdrew from purely Jewish circles, became one of the principal builders and
leaders of the general socialist movement in the United States, and with respect
to popularity was considered second only to the famed American labor leader,
Eugene V. Debs.
Hillquit wrote a series of important
socialist works in English, from which some were translated into Yiddish, such
as: Der sotsyalizm, zayne onzikhtn, tsiln
un vegn (Socialism, its aspects, goals, and paths) (Chicago, 1915), 92 pp.,
translated by H. S-ki [Hannah Salutsky] from Socialism Summed up (1913); Di
geshikhte fun der sotsyalistisher bavegung in di fareynikte shtatn (The
history of the socialist movement in the United States) (New York, 1919), vol.
1, 231 pp., vol. 2, 231 pp., translated by Hillel Rogof; Fun marks biz lenin (From Marx to Lenin) (New York, 1923), 128 pp.,
translated by D. Kaplan; Di
lebns-geshikhte fun moris hilhvit (The life history of Morris Hillquit) (New
York, 1935), 413 pp., translated by A. Milman from Loose Leaves from a Busy Life (1934). He died in New York.
Sources:
Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1 (with
a bibliography); Ab. Kahan, Bleter fun mayn lebn (Pages from my life) (Vilna, 1928), vol. 2; Kahan, in Forverts (New York) (October 13, 1933);
B. Vaynshteyn, Fertsig yor in der idisher
arbeter bavegung in amerike (Forty years in the Jewish labor movement in America) (New York,
1924), see index; Vaynshteyn, in Forverts
(October 13, 1933); B. Levitin, in Forverts
(October 13, 1933); H. Rogof, in Tsukunft
(New York) (November 1933); obituary notice in Hadoar (New York) (October 20, 1933); Dr. B. Hofman, Fuftsig yor kloukmakher yunyon 1886-1936
(Fifty years of the cloak makers’ union, 1886-1936) (New York, 1936), see
index; Shmuel Niger, “Onheyb fun proletarish-yidisher literatur” (The beginning
of proletarian Yiddish literature), Tsukunft
(September 1940); Kalmen Marmor, “Moris Hilkvit,” in Tsen yoriker yubiley fun arbeter-ordn (Ten-year jubilee of the Workers’
Order) (New York, 1940); Elye Shulman, Geshikhte fun der yidisher literatur
in amerike (History of Yiddish literature in America) (New York, 1943); A.
Liessin, Zikhroynes un bilder (Memoirs
and images) (New York, 1954), p. 236; B. Tsukerman, in Idisher kemfer (New York) (Rosh Hashanah issue, 1957), pp.56-61;
Sh. Vays (Weiss), in Algemeyne
entsiklopedye (General encyclopedia) (New York, 1957), pp. 254-59.
Borekh Tsubinski
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