HERMAN GOLD

HERMAN GOLD (1888-May 17, 1953)

            This was the pseudonym of Hillel Gurni.  He was born in Brisk (Brest), Lithuania.  He studied in the Pinsk yeshiva.  At age fourteen he began writing in Hebrew the history of the city of Pinsk for Pinsker shtot-luekh (Pinsk city calendar).  He spent several years in Vilna and in Warsaw.  In 1905 he emigrated to the United States.  He worked in a factory, later as a clerk for Fraye arbeter shtime (Free voice of labor) in New York, when it appeared for a short time as a daily under the title Abend-tsaytung (Evening newspaper) in 1906.  He later became a bookkeeper.  In 1907 he published in Tsukunft (Future) in New York his first story, “Liles” (Lilith), and thereafter he wrote stories for Tsayt-gayst (Spirit of the times), Arbayter (Laborers) edited by Dovid Pinski, Idishe vokhnshrift (Jewish weekly writings), Dos naye lebn (The new life), and the anthology Ist brodvey (East Broadway) in 1916.  Among his books: In vald (In the woods), stories (New York, 1919), 45 pp., with drawings by Y. Likhtenshteyn; In mayn shtot brisk, a ring in firuntsvantsik lider (In my city Brisk, a cycle of twenty-four poems) (New York, 1920), 29 pp.; Dos eyntsige, skitsen fun a filozofye (The only one, sketches of a philosophy) (New York, 1922), 63 pp.; A zamlung af yontef (A collection for the holiday), “the first part of a longer work ‘Jewish notions,’” (New York, 1922), 63 pp.; Mayselekh (Stories) (New York, 1928), 256 pp., with illustrations by Zuni Maud and Yosl Kotler; A moyd mit a tsepl farzukht an epl (A girl with a pigtail tastes an apple) (New York, 1941), 40 pp., with drawings by Y. Likhtenshteyn; Zishe landoy (Zishe Landau), a monograph (New York, 1946), 159 pp.  In the anthology 1925, he published his play A komedye in farbn (A comedy in colors); and in In undzer bukh, 1926 (In our book, 1926), he published his operatic poem in four acts, Shabes kodesh in amerike (Holy Sabbath in America).  He died in New York.

Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1; Z. Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 1; Y. Mark, in Yorbukh (Annual) (New York, 1944); Z. Vaynper, Yidishe shriftshteler (Jewish writers) (New York, 1933), vol. 2; R. Ayzland, Fun undzer friling (From out spring) (New York, 1954); Sh. Slutski, Avrom reyzen-biblyografye (Avrom Reyzen bibliography) (New York, 1956), no. 5145; Shmuel Niger, in Der fraynd (New York) (June-July 1921); Tog (New York) (October 27, 1929).