YANKEV
GLATSHTEYN (JACOB GLATSTEIN) (August 20, 1896-November 19, 1971)
He was born in Lublin. He was a descendant of a musical family of
religious followers of the Jewish Enlightenment: his father R. Yitskhok, a mitnaged (anti-Hassid) and lover of
modern Yiddish literature, made a living from business in ready-made and
finished furniture; his mother Yite-Rokhl, née Yungman, descended from a
rabbinical pedigree; his uncle R. Moyshele Glatshteyn was the Lublin city
cantor; and his cousins Yankev and Yoysef-Shloyme Glatshteyn were in their
youth choirboys at their father’s synagogue, and later they made contributions
with their musical knowledge to Jewish song as choir directors and
composers. Yankev Glatshteyn received a
traditional, observant Jewish upbringing.
Until age sixteen he studied in religious primary schools with excellent
teachers: Tanakh, Gemara, and the commentators—secular subject matter he
acquired with private tutors. He later
prepared for and sat for examinations for the sixth class in high school as an
external student. In his early youth,
his father acquainted him with modern Yiddish literature, and when he saw with
what zeal his son read and read it aloud, and how his son threw himself into
writing, he rejoiced in the thought that his own son might also grow up to be a
Yiddish writer. At age thirteen he went
to Warsaw and there he met Y. L. Peretz, H. D. Nomberg, and Noyekh Prilucki to
show them his writings. At age seventeen
Bal-Makhshoves accepted a story of his to publish in Fraynd (Friend). This story
was not published, though, because Glatshteyn had no patience waiting and
withdrew the manuscript. Due to the
persecution of Jews, boycotts, and anti-Semitism, in 1914 he emigrated to join
his uncle in the United States. He
arrived in New York on June 5 of that year, and in October 1914 he published
his first piece, a story entitled “Di geferlekhe froy” (The dangerous woman),
in the fifteenth jubilee issue of Fraye
arbeter shtime (Free voice of labor).
Later, in the new, Americanized Jewish surroundings, he had for a
certain period of time divested himself of his dreams of becoming a Yiddish
writer. He enthusiastically studied
English and worked in various sweatshops.
He was not, however, fit for physical labor, aspired to study, and with
the help of his relatives in 1918 he entered New York University to study
law. There he met N. B. Minkov, and
thanks to their literary conversations, he renewed his literary
activities. His poetry, though, did not
find favor with Sh. Yanovski, editor of Fraye
arbeter shtime, who advised him rather to devote himself to his studies and
become a lawyer. However, when
Glatshteyn sent in his poems, using the female pseudonym Klara Blum, Fraye arbeter shtime published them, and
Yanovski even praised the “poetess Klara Blum” in an editorial. Later, when Yanovski discovered who this
“Klara Blum” was, he stopped publishing his poems.
Aside from poetry, Glatshteyn also
wrote stories. Knowledgeable as he was
of world literature and well-versed in modern Yiddish literature, his stories
were written under the influence of de Maupassant and Avrom Reyzen. Using the pen name “Y. Yungman,” he published
in Morgn-zhurnal (Morning journal)
approximately one hundred stories. In 1919
he began publishing poems in the New York journal Poezye (Poetry), edited by H. Gudelman, and it soon became apparent
that Yiddish literature had acquired an original poetic talent. N. B. Minkov introduced him to H. Leivick and
Moyshe Leyb Halpern. They befriended and
encouraged him. Together with Minkov and
A. Leyeles, in 1920 he published a declaration concerning introspective poetry
which laid the foundation stones of the Inzikh (Introspectivist) turn in Yiddish
literature. Glatshteyn became one of the
most important representatives of this group and coeditor of its journal In zikh, in which he published poetry,
articles, and essays. In 1921 his first
book of poems appeared: Yankev glatshteyn
(New York: Kultur), 80 pp., which established his place at the center of modern
Yiddish poetry. His poems were
distinguished from other poetic works of that era, noted Zalmen Reyzen, “with a
strong intellectualism, with a genuine expressiveness, with a disclosure of the
inner world by suggestion and association, and with the fine form of his
refined free verse.” He wrote for: Fraye arbeter shtime, Poezye, Oyfkum (Arise), In zikh, Tsukunft (Future), Undzer bukh (Our book), Kibetser
(Joker), and Kundes (Prankster),
among others. Just like many other
poets, he initially had a negative view of newspaper work, but later he became
a member of the editorial staff of Naye
varhayt (New truth) in New York, and in 1926 he became a regular
contributor to Morgn-zhurnal. Using the pseudonym “Y. T-an,” he wrote for Di naye varhayt Saturday feature pieces,
and for Morgn-zhurnal he used the pen
names Y. Yungman, Gimel Daled, Itskus, and Yakobus, among others. In 1938 the editor of Morgn-zhurnal, D. L. Mekler, asked him to sign his column “Prost un
poshet” (Plain and simple) with his real name.
Together with Mikhl Likht, in 1926 he edited the monthly magazine Loglen (Skins); over the years
1928-1929, he edited In zikh; and he
served on the editorial collective of this journal, 1934-1938. He travel to Europe in 1934, a trip which
inspired him to write two prose works: Ven
yash iz geforn (When Yash set out) and Ven
yash iz gekumen (When Yash arrived), in which he revealed his mastery of
the art of story-telling. Years later,
Shmuel Niger characterized him as: “No one has such distinctiveness, such a
Yiddish of his own as Yankev Glatshteyn.
He is truly a maestro when he conducts his own orchestra with the
instruments that he alone has refined….
His poetry and prose are so closely knitted together, so confused with
each other such that one can not separate them—such is his work. The rhythm comes from speech and, it would
appear, from prose, but his speech, his prose has such rhythm and so frequently
such conciseness and often such unexpected freshness, such a rush of expression,
of word connections, of the structure of stanzas, of the number and course of
its lines, and of the way and order in which they rhyme—that you experience it
as poetry.” In 1938 in his poem “A gute
nakht dir, velt” (Good night to you, world), Glatshteyn predicted the great
catastrophe imminently awaiting the world and especially the Jewish
people. His poem—a kind of alarm call
and protest to a murderous-indifferent world—provoked numerous commentaries in
the Yiddish press. In fact, roughly 200
articles were written in response to this poem in newspapers and magazines
everywhere that Yiddish writings appeared in print. In 1940 he received the Louis Lamed Prize for
his work of prose, Ven yash iz gekumen. In early 1945 he began publishing a weekly
column—entitled “In tokh genumen, arum bikher, mentshn un zakhn” (In essence,
about books, people and things)—in Idisher kemfer (Jewish fighter) in New York.
Under this rubric, he published some 600 essays, mainly reviews of newly
published books concerned with general and Jewish cultural and literary
issues. A selection of these writings
later appeared in two volumes under the same title. In these essays he revealed himself to be one
of the finest Yiddish stylists, like an art critic who plumbs the deepest depths
of the artist’s innermost world. He
stopped writing this column in January 1957, and in his last piece for “In tokh
genumen” (January 4) he wrote an explanation for this.
The “third destruction” (Holocaust)
mightily influenced Glatshteyn’s work. He
became one of the elegiac poets of exterminated Polish Jewry. In his motifs lamenting the destruction, he
expressed his hereditary musicality, his rootedness in Jewish lore. The rise of the state of Israel at that time
also developed artistically in him, and he became the singer—often with pain
and sadness—of the Jewish people’s renaissance.
Among his books: Yankev glatshteyn (New York, 1921), 80
pp.; Fraye ferzn (Free verses) (New
York, 1926), 88 pp.; Kredos (Credos),
poems (New York, 1929), 96 pp.; Di
purim-gvardye (The Purim guard), a play (New York, 1931), 16 pp.; Yidishtaytshn (Yiddish meanings), poems (Warsaw: Kh. Bzshoza, 1937), 111 pp.; Ven
yash iz geforn, a novel (New York, 1938), 240 pp., a second edition
published by “Farband fun poylishe yidn” (Association of Polish Jews) in Buenos
Aires appeared in 1957, 269 pp.; Emil un
karl (Emil and Karl), a novel (New York, 1940), 171 pp.; Ven yash iz gekumen, a novel (New York,
1940), 304 pp.; Gedenklider (Memorial
poems) (New York, 1943), 84 pp.; Yosl
loksh fun khelem (Yosl the noodle from Chelm) (New York: Makhamadim, 1944),
47 pp., with music by Henekh Kon and illustrations by Yitskhok Likhtenshteyn; Shtralndike yidn (Jubilant Jews), poems
(New York, 1946), 124 pp.; In tokh
genumen, eseyen (In essence, essays) (New York, 1947; Buenos Aires: Kiem,
1960), 544 pp.; Dem tatns shotn, lider
(Father’s shadow, poems) (New York, 1953), 192 pp.; Fun mayn gantser mi (For all my troubles), poems (New York, 1956),
393 pp., which was awarded the Kovner Prize by the Jewish Book Council of
America and the Louis Lamed Prize as well; Di
freyd fun yidishn vort (The delight of the Yiddish word) (New York: Kval,
1961), 208 pp.; Mit mayne fartogbikher
(With my journals) (Tel Aviv: Peretz Publ., 1963), 569 pp.; A yid fun Lublin (A Jew from Lublin) (New
York: CYCO, 1966), 128 pp.; Af greyte
temes (On ready themes) (New York: CYCO, 1967), 414 pp.; Kh’tu dermonen (I keep recalling) (New
York: Bergen-Belsen, 1967), 157 pp.; Gezangen
fun rekhts tsu links (Singing from right to left) (New York: CYCO, 1971),
142 pp.; In der velt mit yidish, eseyen
(In the world with Yiddish, essays) (New York, 1972), 462 pp.; Prost un poshet, literarishe eseyen
(Plain and simple, literary essays) (New York, 1978), 454 pp.
On his sixtieth
birthday, the National Jewish Workers Alliance published Glatshteyn’s volume of
essays In tokh genumen (New York,
1956), 485 pp.; and in Israel was published Uvehagia
yash, a translation of Ven yash iz
gekumen by Shelomo Shemhod (Tel Aviv, 244 pp.). Glatshteyn was a regular contributor to Tog-morgn-zhurnal (Daily morning journal)
in New York, in which he published twice weekly his current-events column
“Prost un poshet” his reactions to the most diverse general as well as Jewish
events. He also wrote a weekly article
in the New York weekly newspaper Idisher kemfer. He edited the mimeographed
monthly journal Folk un velt (People
and world), published by the “Jewish World Congress.” In 1945, together with Shmuel Niger and H.
Rogof, he edited the anthology Finf un
zibetsik yor yidishe prese in amerike (Seventy-five years of the Yiddish
press in America), published by the Y. L. Peretz Writers Union. He also co-edited Idisher kemfer over the years 1954-1955, and he took an active role
in Jewish cultural life in New York. His
speeches and lectures on cultural topics and on Yiddish literature drew an
immense audience of listeners, and they excelled in their militancy on behalf
of the respectability of Yiddish and Yiddish literature. His sixtieth birthday was celebrated in New
York, and a great number of articles were published in the international
Yiddish press marking the day. He was
living in New York until his death.
Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1 (Vilna, 1928); Z.
Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater
(Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 1 (New York, 1931); B. Rivkin, in Tsayt (New York) (August 21, 1921);
Rivkin, Grunt-tendentsn fun der yidisher
literatur in amerike (Basic tendencies
in Yiddish literature in America) (New York, 1948), pp. 313-17; Kh. L. Fuks, in
Lodzher folksblat (June 1922); Fuks,
in Undzer shtime (Paris) (May 11, 22,
23, 1957); Kh. Krul, Arum zikh
(Around itself) (Vilna, 1930), pp. 28-29; Y. Entin, in Idisher kemfer (July 7, 1939); M. Basin, Antologye fun amerikaner yidisher poezye (Anthology of American
Yiddish poetry) (New York, 1940); A. Leyeles, in In zikh 54 (April 1940); Leyeles, in Di goldene keyt (Tel Aviv) 25 (1956); Leyeles, in Idisher kemfer (December 14, 1956); Dr.
Shloyme Bikl, Detaln un sakhaklen, kritishe un polemishe bamerkungen (Details and sum totals, critical and
polemical observations) (New York, 1943), pp. 85, passim; Dr. A. Mukdoni, in Morgn-zhurnal
(April 14, 1943); Mukdoni, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal
(October 7, 1956); Y. Y. Sigal, in Keneder
odler (Montreal) (August 9, 1943; April 1, 1945; August 27, 1945; September
23, 1946; March 10, 1947; June 20, 1947; November 30, 1951; July 20 and 27,
1953); Moyshe Shtarkman, Hemshekh-antologye (Hemshekh anthology) (New York, 1945), pp. 17-42; Yeshayahu Ustri-Dan, Bloye horizontn (Blue horizons) (Mexico,
1946), p. 198; M. Ravitsh, in Der veg
(Mexico) (May 31, 1947); Ravitsh, in Keneder
odler (January 28, 1957); B. Grobard, in Zamlbikher (New York) 8 (1948), pp. 410-23; Shmuel Niger, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (November 22, 1953);
L. Domankevitsh, Fun aktueln un eybikn
(From the real and eternal) (Paris, 1954), pp. 197-204; Y. Pat, Shmuesn mit yidishe shrayber (Conversations
with Yiddish writers) (New York, 1954); Y. Rapoport, in Di goldene keyt 19 (1954); Rapoport, Oysgerisene bleter (Torn up pages) (Melbourne, 1957), pp. 97-137;
Y. Yonasovitsh, in Di naye tsayt
(Buenos Aires) (January 21, 1954); Yonasovitsh, in Di prese (Buenos Aires) (August 25, 1956); N. Mayzil, in Yidishe kultur (New York)
(August-September 1954); B. Tshubinski, in Fraye
arbeter shtime (January 15, 1954); Shmerke
katsherginski ondenk bukh (Memorial
volume for Szmerke Kaczerginski)
(Buenos Aires, 1955), pp. 38-42; Y. Rodak, Kunst
un kinstler (Art and artists) (New York, 1955), p. 187; Sh. Leshtshinski, Literarishe eseyen (Literary essays)
(New York, 1955), pp. 91-100; B. Y. Byalostotski, Kholem un vor, eseyen (Dream and reality, essays) (New York, 1956),
pp. 149, passim; Shimshon Meltser, Al naharot (To the rivers) (Jerusalem,
1956), pp. 429, 441; Haentsiklopediya
haivrit (Hebrew encyclopedia), vol. 10 (Jerusalem, 1956), pp. 849-50; A.
Gordin, in Fraye arbeter shtime
(December 28, 1956); Yankev Glatshteyn, “Fragn un entfers” (Questions and
answers), Idisher kemfer (November 9,
1956); Glatshteyn, “A derklerung” (An explanation), Idisher kemfer (January 4, 1957); L. Faynberg, in Tog-morgn-zhurnal (September 22, 1956);
A. Oyerbakh, in Idisher kemfer
(November 9, 1956); M. Yafe, in Di
goldene keyt 26 (1956); Lebns-fragn
(Tel Aviv) (June-July 1951); Dorem-afrike
(Johannesburg) (August 1957); N. Y. Gotlib, in Keneder odler (May 28, 1956; March 1, 1957); P. Shteynvaks, in Keneder odler (September 3, 1956); A.
Grinberg, in Tsukunft (New York)
(March 1957); L. Shpizman, in Ilustrirte
literarishe bleter (Buenos Aires) (January-February 1957); Y. Morgnshtern,
in Idisher kemfer (March 29, 1957); G.
Freyl, in Hadoar (New York) (Kislev,
1956); A. Volf Yasni, in Letste nayes
(Tel Aviv) (May 25, 1957; January 10, 1958); M. Shenderay, in Di yidishe tsaytung (Buenos Aires) (July
23, 1957); Y. I. (Yitskhok Ivri), in Bitsaron
(New York) (Tamuz-Av, 1957); Sh. D. Zinger, in Undzer veg (New York) (October 1957); Kh. L. Fuks, in Fun noentn over, vol. 3 (New York,
1957), p. 220; K. Bartini, in Hapoel
hatsair (Tel Aviv) (Shevet, 1958); Universal
Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 4 (New York, 1941); Who’s Who in World Jewry (New York, 1955); Cassels Encyclopedia of World Literature, vol. 2 (London);
Zaynvl Diamant
[Additional
information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon
fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New
York, 1986), col. 160.]
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