SHIYE (JOSHUA) BUDZON (December 5, 1858-November 1929)
Born in Hanushishok, Vilna region, to a father who worked as
a weaver. He attended religious
elementary school, and thereafter studied in the Remayle Yeshiva in Vilna,
later still turning to general, worldly knowledge. He became a teacher for well-to-do
children. He moved to England and became
a peddler. He then returned home and
took up writing pulp fiction. His first
novel, entitled A gitraye vaybl khlebn, eyne kharakteristishe und romantishe
ertseylung (A devoted wife, upon my word, a characteristic and romantic
story), 98 pp., was published in Vilna in 1880, reprinted in 1891 and
1895. His publisher, Y. L. M”ts, also
published his novels: Homen mit mordekhn (Haman and Mordechai) (1893),
81 pp.; Der afrikaner khosn oder kholem-noz, eyn interesanter roman (The
African groom or childish speech, an interesting novel) (1893), 32 pp.; and A
mayse fun a rov mit rebetsn oder a hun oyf a katshkene ey (A tale of a
rabbi and his wife or a hen on a duck’s egg) (1895), 32 pp.; among others. (A longer list of these works can be found in
Zalmen Reyzen’s Leksikon.) He
also published novels and collections of stories with the publisher,
Rozenkrants ve-shriftzetser, in Vilna, such as: Khashke di grafine, oder oys
shvester, vayter kale, eyn hekht interestanter roman (Khashke the countess,
or not a sister any longer, still a bride to be, a fascinating novel) (1889),
176 pp. (later reprinted several times); Eyn kdaye zakh khlebn, oder der
tate nemt di mamen, a rikhtike mayse (A worthwhile item, upon my word, or
Father attracted Mother, a proper story) (1913), 30 pp. [1894 original]; Der
mekekh toes, oder vi men bet zikh oys azoy shloft men, a fayne ertseylung
(The price of an error, or how one makes one’s bed, so one sleep, an excellent
story) (1926), 31 pp. [1913 original]; Der glompisher president, oder eyn
kind fun tsvey mames, an ekhte figure (The silly president, or one child
with two mothers, an authentic figure) (1926), 32 pp. [1895 original, 1913
reprint]; Dos khanike likhtl, oder libe un flikht (The little Chanukah
candle, or love and duty) (1896), 28 pp.; Yaytsa kur utshat, oder vos
bashert dos bavert (Yaytsa kur utshat, or what’s destined is realized)
(1891), 31 pp.; Motke flikh (Motke the dutiful) (1893); Der mamzer,
oder got vart lang un batsolt gikh, a[n] emese geshikhte fun a falshe[r] libe
(The bastard, or God waits long and pays quickly, a true story of a false love)
(1893), 31 pp.
Budzon wrote into the mid-1890s. When he later settled in Vilna, he engaged in
business for a while, later becoming a bookkeeper and no longer attended to the
writing of stories. In the mid-1920s, he
wrote a monograph on the well-known Vilna philanthropic woman, Dvore-Ester
Helfer (1817-1907), who had provided him with room-and-board one day each week
while he was a yeshiva student. It is
unknown if this work was ever published.
Budzon died in Vilna, and Zalmen Reyzen eulogized him at the funeral.
Sources:
Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1, pp. 230-32; Literarishe bleter
(Warsaw) (November 29, 1929); A. Vevyorke, Revizye (Revision) (Kharkov,
1931), pp. 86, 218-20; Shmuel Niger, “Shomer’s mishpet oyf sholem aleykhemen” (The
Trial of Shomer in Sholem Aleykhem), Tsukunft (New York) (January 1947).
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