TUVYE KATZ

TUVYE KATZ (b. September 14, 1886)

            He was born in Grodno, Russian Poland, where his father was a Zionist orator.  He studied in religious primary school and in the yeshivas of Lomzhe and Slobodka.  On his own he later mastered Russian and German.  In 1905, under the impact of the pogroms in Russia, he departed for Galicia and lived in Lemberg and Stanisle (Stanislavov), where he taught Hebrew until 1939.  From 1906 he published poetry, stories, feature pieces, and articles in: Der yudishe arbayter (The Jewish worker), Togblat (Daily newspaper), and Der nayer morgen (The new morning)—in Lemberg; Viner morgenshtern (Vienna morning star) in Vienna; Dos naye lebn (The new life), Kultur (Culture), and Der arbayter (The laborer)—in Czernowitz; Folkstsaytung (People’s newspaper) in Warsaw; and Shtern (Star) in Stanisle; among others.  His books include: Fun nekhtn un haynt (Of yesterday and today), lyrical poems (Lemberg: Arbet, 1924), 80 pp.; Der kenig shoyel (King Saul), a historical play in four acts (Stanisle, 1936), 112 pp.  He also wrote under the pseudonyms: “Over Oreaḥ,” “Muai,” and “A Gutn.”  There has been no further information about him since WWII.  His younger brother was the well-known actor Kurt Katch (Isser Kac).

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 2; Vilner tog (Vilna) (November 1, 1935); Professor B. Ts. Rozentsvayg, in Shtern (Stanisle) (November 1935); Yoyvl-bukh 30 yor keneder odler (30-year jubilee volume of the Canadian eagle) (Montreal, 1938); Dr. M. Naygreshl, in Fun noentn over (New York) 1 (1955), p. 257.

Khayim Leyb Fuks