Y. KARA

Y. KARA (b. October 13, 1906)

            The pen name of Itsik Shvarts, the brother of Julian and Simkhe Shvarts, he was born in Podeloy (Podu Iloaiei), Romania.  He received a traditional education.  In 1936 he graduated from the philology department in Czernowitz University.  During WWII he served in the Soviet army.  He debuted in print in 1929 with a story in Yitskhok Paner’s Der kantshik (The whip) in Czernowitz.  He published articles and research pieces on Jewish folklore and theater in: Tshernovitser bleter (Czernowitz pages), Ufgang (Sunrise) in Sighet, Vokh (Week), Kultur-vegvayser (Culture guide), and Shoybn (Window panes) in Bucharest; Literarishe bleter (Literary leaves), Folks-shtime (Voice of the people), and Yidishe shriftn (Yiddish writings) in Warsaw; Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture), Morgn-frayhayt (Morning freedom), and Yivo-bleter (Pages from YIVO) in New York; Naye prese (New press) and Unzer vort (Our word) in Paris; and Di goldene keyt (The golden chain) in Tel Aviv.  He co-edited the short anthology Naye yidishe literatur (New Yiddish literature), published in Romanization (Czernowitz, 1934), 96 pp.  He translated many plays for the Yiddish state theater, as well as adapting and dramatizing Yiddish works.  In book form: 30 yor yidishe literatur in rumenye (Thirty years of Yiddish literature in Romania) (Iași, 1947), 32 pp.; Lernheft far yidisher gramatik (Textbook for Yiddish grammar) (Bucharest, 1948), 16 pp.; Manuscrise şi cărţi rare existente în colecţiile Bibliotecii “Gheorghe Asachi,” catalog (Manuscripts and rare books in the collections of the “Gheorghe Asachi” Library, catalog), 2 parts (Iași, 1972), 48 pp., (Iași, 1974), 68 pp.; A moldevish yingl, bilder un geshtaltn (A Moldavian boy, images and figures) (Bucharest, 1976), 192 pp.; Yunge yorn un…veyniker yunge, album-bleter (Years of youth and…younger years, pages from an album) (Bucharest, 1980), 274 pp.  His pen names include: F. Kaman, A. Shteynhart, A. Lakhover, and Ishva.  He was last living in Bucharest.

Sources: Shloyme Bikl, Rumenye (Romania) (Buenos Aires, 1961), pp. 348-52; Yidishe kultur (New York) 7 (1966); Sovetish heymland (Moscow) 10 (1966); Y. Yakir, in Naye prese (Paris) (November 15, 1966); V. Tambur, in Unzer vort (Paris) (October 9, 1976); Folks-shtime (Warsaw) (October 30, 1976); Yeshurin archive, YIVO (New York).

Ruvn Goldberg