DVOYRE TARANT

DVOYRE TARANT (1898-April 2, 1957)

            She was born in Riga, Latvia.  She graduated from a girls’ school in Riga and studied medicine in Dorpat (Tartu) University.  She was a cofounder of the “Workers’ home” in Riga and a teacher in the local Jewish public schools.  In 1923 she moved to the United States; she worked for a time as a teacher in Workmen’s Circle schools, later in the leftist Folks-Orden schools.  She studied education and psychology at Columbia University.  She was a contributor to and from 1945 a member of the editorial board of the Communist Morgn-frayhayt (Morning freedom) in New York.  She was secretary of the leftist writers’ group at IKUF (Jewish Cultural Association) and co-editor of Zamlungen (Anthologies) in New York in which she published a series of essays on children’s literature.  She also contributed work to Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture) in New York.  Among her books: Arbet (Labor), a textbook for the second school year (New York, 1930), 120 pp.; Kinder, onfanger lernbukh farn ershtn yor (Children, beginning textbook for the first year) (New York, 1929), 47 pp. (both of these books were co-written with Betsalel Fridman), which appeared in four increasingly longer editions (New York, 1933), 160 pp.; Mayn alefbeys, leyenbukh far onfanger (My alphabet, textbook for beginners) (New York, 1937), 79 pp.; Mayn bukh, tsveyte leyenbukh far onfanger (My book, second textbook for beginners), with illustration by Morris Pas (New York, 1938), 80 pp.; Mayn yidish bukh, eyns (My Yiddish book, vol. 1) (New York, 1944), 155 pp., second edition (New York, 1946), 160 pp., sixth printing (New York, 1961).  She died in New York.

Sources: M. Epshteyn, in Morgn-frayhayt (New York) (January 12, 1931); obituary notices in: Morgn-frayhayt (April 3-4, 1957), Yidishe kultur (New York) (April 1957), and Zamlungen (New York) 12 (Spring 1957).

Khayim Leyb Fuks