YITSKHOK PANER (ITZHAK PANNER)

YITSKHOK PANER (ITZHAK PANNER) (January 1, 1896-September 19, 1979)

            He was born in Dobromil (Dobromyl’), Galicia.  At age four, he moved with his parents to Bukovina.  Until ten years of age, he studied in religious elementary school, and he went on to graduate from a Romanian public school.  At fourteen he made his way with an older sister to the United States.  He became quite ill from hard sweatshop work and returned home.  At fifteen he began publishing poetry in Forverts (Forward) and Tsayt-gayst (Spirit of the times) in New York.  He was a regular contributor to Arbeter tsaytung (Workers’ newspaper) in Czernowitz, in which he published poetry, essays, and feature pieces.  He was later a cofounder and contributor to Tshernovitser bleter (Czernowitz sheets).  Over the years 1928-1930, he edited the literary humorous weekly Der kantshik (The whip) in Czernowitz.  He spent the years 1941-1945 in the concentration camps of Transnistria and was later housed in Cyprus.  From early 1949 he was living in Israel, and there he was a regular contributor to Di goldene keyt (The golden chain) and Letste nayes (Latest news) in Tel Aviv.  He also published in newspapers and journals abroad.  His books include: Antologye fun der nayer yidisher dikhtung (Anthology of modern Yiddish poetry), with Leyzer Frenkel, in Romanized transcription (Iași, 1945), 112 pp., preface by Yankev Groper; Naye yidishe dikhtung (Modern Yiddish poetry), compiled together with Leyzer Frenkel, with a preface by Itzik Manger (Iași: Jewish cultural circle in Romania, 1947), 320 pp.; Sholem ash in zayn letster heym (Sholem Asch in his last home) (Tel Aviv, 1958), 169 pp.; Zun un shotn, yisroel motivn (Sun and shadows, Israeli motifs) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1964), 184 pp.; In eygenem hafn (In one’s own port) (Tel Aviv, 1970), 237 pp.; Shtrikhn tsum portret fun itsik manger (Features in the portrait of Itzik Manger) (Tel Aviv: Hamenorah, 1976), 158 pp.; Minyaturot (Miniatures) (Tel Aviv: Perets Publ., 1972), 117 pp., translations from Hebrew by Paner and others.  Paner played an important role in the development of modern Yiddish literature in Bukovina and Romania generally.  He published reviews of Yiddish books, mainly poetry and also essays about writers.  He occupied an honored place among Yiddish writers in the state of Israel.  He died in Ramat-Gan.

Sources: Meylekh Ravitsh, Mayn leksikon (My lexicon), vol. 4 (Montreal, 1958), p. 307; A. V. Yasni, in Letste nayes (Tel Aviv) (October 24, 1958); Shloyme Bikl, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (New York) (November 9, 1958); Bikl, in Rumenye (Romania), vol. 1 (New York, 1961), pp. 353-54, 399; Bikl, Shrayber fun mayn dor (Writers of my generation), vol. 2 (New York, 1965), pp. 201-5; Yankev Glatshteyn, in Idisher kemfer (New York) (July 17, 1964); Yefim Yeshurin, 100 yor moderne yidishe literatur, biblyografisher tsushteyer (100 years of modern Yiddish literature, bibliographical contribution) (New York, 1966), p. 190.

Leyb Vaserman

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 426.]