MENDL ABARBANEL

MENDL ABARBANEL (1888-1957)

Soviet Yiddish writer who lived in Belorussia; by trade a carpenter.  He began publishing in Der frayer arbiter (Free worker) and Kultur un bildung (Culture and education), Moscow (1918) and Vitebsk (1918).  Among his books: Af khvalyes fun tsaytn (Over waves of time) (Kharkov, 1930), 135 pp.; Af der vogshol (On the scale), poetry (Kharkov-Kiev, 1934), 133 pp.; In ritem fun lebn (In the rhythm of life) (Kiev, 1937), 94 pp.; Kindheyt (Childhood), poems (Kharkov-Kiev, 1939), 103 pp.; Af undzer erd (On our earth) (Kiev, 1940), 193 pp.  His writings also appeared in: Ruf, lider zamlung (Call, poetry collection) (Minsk, 1935); Almanakh fun yidishe sovetishe shrayber tsum alfarbandishn shrayber-tsuzamenfor (Almanac of Soviet Yiddish writers to the All-Soviet Writers’ Conference) (Kharkov-Kiev, 1934); Mut (Courage), poetry collection (Moscow, 1920); Shlakhtn (Battles) (Kharkov-Kiev, 1932); Zay greyt (Get ready) (Kharkov).  He was a member of the Proletkult (proletarian culture) group (together with Khayim Gildin and Shlomo Yudovin).  The majority of his poems have a propagandistic character.  His fate remains unknown.

Sources: Kh. Dunyets, Far magnitboyen in der literatur (For the great works of literature) (Minsk, 1932); B. Orshanski, in Tsaytshrift 5 (Minsk, 1931).

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 1.]