AVROM GRINSHPAN

AVROM GRINSHPAN (September 7, 1907-April 27, 1993)

            He was born in Warsaw.  He graduated from the eight-level public school run by Tsisho (Central Jewish School Organization) and the Jewish Theater Studio in Warsaw.  He lived in Warsaw until 1958 and at that time emigrated to São Paolo, Brazil, where he worked as a teacher.  In 1973 he made aliya to Israel.  From 1948 he wrote in Dos naye lebn (The new life) and Folks-shtime (Voice of the people) in Warsaw, and edited the latter’s weekly illustrated edition.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 181.

MENAKHEM-ZEV GRINGLAS (MENACHEM-ZEEV GREENGLASS)

MENAKHEM-ZEV GRINGLAS (MENACHEM-ZEEV GREENGLASS) (1917-2010)

            He was born in Lodz.  In 1942 he reached Montreal via Japan.  For many years he wrote under the rubric, “Zakhor et yom hashabat” (Remember the Sabbath day) for Keneder odler (Canadian eagle).  He translated into Yiddish Kovets likute dinim (Compilation of laws) (New York, 1951), 64 pp.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 180.

MEYER GRINBERG

MEYER GRINBERG (1904-1950)

            He was born in Lagev (Łagów), Kielce region.  He lived in Kielce and Łagów, where he was active with the left Labor Zionists.  From 1922 he was living in Toronto.  He was wounded in WWII as a soldier in the Canadian army.  He began writing poetry for Fraye yugnt (Free youth), Yugnt-fon (Banner of youth), and Arbeter-tsaytung (Laborers’ newspaper) in Warsaw; later in Canada he wrote for Proletarisher gedank (Proletarian idea), Idishe zhurnal (Jewish journal), and mostly for the literary journals Heftn (Notebooks), Baginen (Dawn), and Royerd (Raw earth), as well as for Der kamf (The struggle), Der veg (The way), and Vokhnblat (The weekly newspaper), among others.  In book form: Lider (Poems) (Toronto, 1932), 52 pp.  He died in Toronto.

Source: Kh. L. Fuks, Hundert yor yidishe un hebreishe literatur in kanade (A century of Yiddish and Hebrew literature in Canada) (Montreal, 1980).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 180.

YITSKHOK GRINBLAT (YITZHAK GREENBLATT)

YITSKHOK GRINBLAT (YITZHAK GREENBLATT) (ca. 1874-1942)

            He was the author of Hegyoni yitskhok, der hoyz-redner (The wisdom of Yitskhok, the house speaker) (Petrikov, 1933), 125 pp.  He served as a rabbi in Washington, D.C., and later in Ellenville, New York.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 178.

MASHE GRINBOYM (MASHA GREENBAUM)

MASHE GRINBOYM (MASHA GREENBAUM) (b. October 3, 1927)

            She was born in Kovno.  She studied in the Yavne high school.  She survived the Kovno ghetto, concentration camps in Estonia, and Bergen-Belsen.  In 1946 she emigrated to Mexico.  In 1964 she moved to London and graduated from university there.  From 1978 she was living in Israel.  She wrote frequently for Di shtime (The voice) and Der veg (The way) in Mexico City, Loshn un lebn (Language and life) in London, and Idisher kemfer (Jewish fighter) in New York.  She wrote Una ventana al infierno (A window onto hell) (Mexico City, 1962), 202 pp., a volume of stories from the ghettos and concentration camps in Lithuania, Estonia, and Germany.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 177-78.

MAKS GRINBOYM (MAX GRÜNBAUM)

MAKS GRINBOYM (MAX GRÜNBAUM) (July 15, 1817-December 11, 1898)

            He was an Orientalist and a researcher into languages and folklore, born in Seligenstadt, Germany.  He studied philosophy and philology at the Universities of Giessen and Bonn, and he received his doctoral degree.  He did a great deal of research into old Yiddish literature.  His most important work in this area was Jüdisch-deutsche Chrestomatie (Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1882), 587 pp.  In this work he brought together large fragments of old Yiddish literature, such as Tanakh translations, Musar texts, prayer books, Maḥzorim, penitential prayers mostly for women, glossaries, and other such works, as well as etymological explanations for many Yiddish words.  His other works are of interest to Yiddishists: Die Jüddisch-deutsche Literatur in Deutschland, Polen und Amerika (Trier, 1894); Mischsprachen un Sprachmischungen (Berlin, 1885); Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sagenkunde (Leiden, 1893); Jüdisch-Spanische Chrestomathie (Frankfurt, 1896).  He died in Munich.

Source: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 1.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 177.

MAKS GRIN (MAX GREEN)

MAKS GRIN (MAX GREEN) (b. 1869)

            He was a missionary, who practiced as a doctor in Philadelphia and Chicago.  He was the author of missionary tract: The Jewish Question and the Key to Its Solution (Philadelphia,: Georg W. Jacobs, 1908), 173 pp., translated into Yiddish as: Di idn-frage un der shlisl tsu ir lezung (Philadelphia, 1909), 193 pp. (and into German as Die Judenfrage und der Schlüssel zu ihrer Lösung [Leipzig, 1911], 119 pp.).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 176.

KIMA GREYDINA

KIMA GREYDINA (b. 1926)

            She was born in Dnepropetrovsk, Russia.  In 1944 she completed middle school in Tyumen, later graduating from the Khabarovsk Medical Institute.  She wrote mainly in Russian.  In 1979 she debuted in print with a long story in Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland) in Moscow.  From that point she published notes and stories in this serial.  In book form: Tyumener fartsaykhenungen (Notes from Tyumen) (Moscow: Sovetski pisatel, 1985), 63 pp.  She was living in Moscow.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 175-76.

MOTL GRUVMAN

MOTL GRUVMAN (1916-1988)

            He was a poet, born in Nemirov (Nemyriv), Ukraine. After graduating from the local school, he moved to Kharkov and studied in the Jewish division of the Journalistic Technicum; after subsequently graduating from the Economic Technicum, he went to work as an economist. He was drafted into the military in 1937, where he experienced the path of a soldier through the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1938 he took part in the battle at Lake Khasan. Beginning in 1941, he was at the WWII front, and after demobilization he settled in Leningrad, later moving to Novgorod. Over the course of many years, he worked in the bookselling system. He debuted in literature in 1930 in the Kharkov Yiddish newspaper Yung gvardye (Young guard). He was later a regular author for Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland) in Moscow. The main motifs of his poetry were war-related themes, philosophical thoughts, and love miniatures. He also penned essays for journals as well as for the newspaper Birobidzhaner shtern (Birobidzhan star).

            His work includes: a cycle of poetry in Horizontn, fun der haynt-tsaytiker sovetisher yidisher dikhtung (Horizons, from contemporary Soviet Yiddish poetry) (Moscow: Sovetski pisatel, 1965); Yorn fun geviter, lider (Years of tempest, poems) (Moscow: Sovetski pisatel, 1983), 141 pp. His work also appeared in: Osher shvartsman, zamlung gevidmet dem tsvantsik yortog fun zayn heldishn toyt (Osher Shvartsman, collection dedicated to the twentieth anniversary of his heroic death) (Moscow: Emes, 1940).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 175; and Chaim Beider, Leksikon fun yidishe shrayber in ratn-farband (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers in the Soviet Union), ed. Boris Sandler and Gennady Estraikh (New York: Congress for Jewish Culture, Inc., 2011), pp. 88-89.

MOYSHE-NOSN GRUDZIN

MOYSHE-NOSN GRUDZIN (b. January 8, 1911)

            He was born in Zembrove (Zambrów), Poland.  He studied in religious elementary school and in a Tarbut school.  At age twelve he began to work.  From the middle of the 1920s until 1937, he lived in Warsaw.  He then left for Uruguay.  He was active in the leftist movement.  He debuted in print with a poem in Kleyne folkstsaytung (Little people’s newspaper) (Warsaw, 1928). From 1938 he was a contributor to the leftist daily paper Unzer fraynt (Our friend) in Montevideo with poetry, stories, and political articles.  In book form: Der blutiker onheyb, drame (The bloody beginning, a play) (Montevideo, 1945), 96 pp.  He translated from Spanish (with Boris Shifres) Bafrayte erd (Liberated lands [Tierras liberadas]) by Kh. Miro (Montevideo, 1940).  Among his pen names: N. G., A. Braver, N. Braver, N. Goldshteyn, Natan Felon, and M. Grodzhenski.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 174-75.

YANKEV GROSMAN

YANKEV GROSMAN (January 15, 1899-August 1982)

            He was born in Volkovisk (Wołkowysk), Poland.  He received both a Jewish and a general education.  He studied pedagogy in Vilna University.  He was a representative of the Bund in the Vilna city council and the Jewish community.  He was a teacher in Jewish schools.  From 1941 he was living in Montreal.  From 1942 he was a contributor to Keneder odler (Canadian eagle).  He wrote also for Unzer tsayt (Our time) in New York.  In books: Eseyen un zikhroynes (Essays and memoirs) (Montreal, 1974), 241 pp.; Monografyes un eseyen (Monographs and essays) (Montreal, 1977), 118 pp.  He died in Montreal.

Source: Kh. L. Fuks, Hundert yor yidishe un hebreishe literatur in kanade (A century of Yiddish and Hebrew literature in Canada) (Montreal, 1980).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 172-73.

MORTKHE GRANIT

MORTKHE GRANIT (December 12, 1916-1999)

            He was born with the surname “Bzhostavyetski” in Stavisk, Poland.  He studied in religious primary school and yeshivas.  He graduated from a Polish public school and high school.  In 1935 he emigrated to the United States.  He pursued Jewish studies at Queens College from which he received his B. A.  He debuted in print in 1935 in Amerikaner (American) in New York.  He wrote about literary and social-political themes in Tog (Day) and Morgn-zhurnal (Morning journal) in New York, Unzer vort (Our word) and Unzer veg (Our way) in Paris, Di shtime (The voice) in Mexico City, and Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) in Montreal.  Since 1978 he has been an internal contributor to Algemeyne zhurnal (General journal) in New York.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 171-72.

TUVYE (TEOFIL) GROL

TUVYE (TEOFIL) GROL (January 7, 1915-July 1, 1999)

            He was born in Warsaw.  In 1938 he completed his studies in logic and psychology at Warsaw University.  In 1956 he received his doctoral degree in history and philosophy.  Over the years 1948-1968 he was professor at various colleges in Poland.  He survived WWII in the ghettos of Kovno, Brisk, and Visoko-Litovsk and he joined the resistance movement for a time as well.  He published a series of historical works in: Folks-shtime (Voice of the people) and Yidishe shriftn (Yiddish writings) in Warsaw; Naye prese (New press) in Paris; Morgn frayhayt (Morning freedom) in New York; and Vokhnblat (Weekly newspaper) in Toronto.  In book form: Fun yoysef flavyus biz emanuel ringelblum, eseyen fun yidisher geshikhte un geshikhte-shrayber (From Josephus Flavius to Emanuel Ringelblum, essays on Jewish history and historians) (Paris, 1975), xv, 503 pp.; Geshtaltn un perzenlekhkeytn in der yidisher un velt-geshikhte (Images and personalities in Jewish and world history) (Paris, 1976), xii, 537 pp.  He also published a book in French: Grands moments de l’histoire juive: de la Bible à la naissance de l’État d’Israël (Paris, 1980), 322 pp.  And, he wrote lengthy historical works in Polish.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 170-71.

SHLOYME (SOLOMON, SHELOMO) GRODZENSKI

SHLOYME (SOLOMON, SHELOMO) GRODZENSKI (November 28, 1904-February 8, 1972)

            He was a journalist and literary essayist, born in Grodno.  He attended a “cheder metukan” (improved religious elementary school).  In 1916 he emigrated to the United States, where he was initially a factory worker.  In 1951 he made aliya to Israel.  He was a leading figure in the Zionist workers’ movement.  He edited: Yoysef khayim brener, fun zayn lebn un shafn, zambukh zum tsvantsikstn yortsayt (Yosef Haim Brener, his life and work, collection on the twentieth anniversary of his death) (New York, 1941), 376 pp.; Khayim arlozorov bukh (Haim Arlozorov volume) (Detroit, 1944), 320 pp.  Over the years 1932-1951, he co-edited Idisher kemfer (Jewish fighter) in New York.  He edited the daily newspaper Hador (The generation) in Tel Aviv, and from 1958 he served on the editorial board of Davar (Word) in Tel Aviv.  He was editor of the monthly serial Amot (Foundations) in Tel Aviv of the “American Jewish Committee.”  As Khayim Guri noted, Grodzenski “published no books, but if one were to compile all of his writings,…Shloyme Grodzenski’s output would be comparable to one of the important writers and critics of Israel and our literature.”  After his death, there appeared: Geklibene shriftn (Selected writings) (Tel Aviv: Peretz Publ., 1973), 412 pp.; Shelomo grodzenski, devarim al shelema (Shelomo Grodzenski, his writings complete) (1972), 88 pp.; Otobyografiya shel kore, masot ureshimot al sifrut (Autobiography of a reader, essays and articles on literature) (Tel Aviv, 1975), 437 pp.  He died in Herzliya, Israel.

Sources: Getzel Kressel, Leksikon hasifrut haivrit (Handbook of Hebrew literature) (Merḥavya, 1967), vol. 2; Sh. Bikl, Shrayber fun mayn dor (Writers of my generation), vol. 2 (Tel Aviv, 1965), pp. 280-83; Sh. Halkin, in Bitsaron (New York) (Shevat-Adar [mid-January-mid-March] 1972); Kh. Lif, in Bitsaron (Shevat-Adar 1972); Kh. Guri, in Davar (Tel Aviv) (Adar 3 [= February 18], 1972); Sh. Shveytser, in Folksblat (Tel Aviv) (February 1972); M. Magid, in Davar (February 11, 1972); Y. Yonas, in Di shtime (Mexico City) (March 18, 1972); Kh. Ayalti, in Idisher kemfer (New York) (March 24, 1972); Dov Sadan, in Hadoar (New York) (February 15, 1974); Y. Fridlender, in Letste nayes (Tel Aviv) (March 8, 1974)

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 168.

L. MEYER GRAMBOIS

L. MEYER GRAMBOIS

            He was a wedding entertainer from Kishinev.  He was the author of: Tsen naye kopletin (Ten new couplets) (Kishinev, 1898), 28 pp.; Zeks yudishe folks lider (Six Yiddish folksongs) (Kishinev: L. Erlikh and Dovid Yarmilinski, 1900), 36 pp.

Ezra Lahad

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 168.

SHIYE (JOSHUA) GERSHMAN

SHIYE (JOSHUA) GERSHMAN (June 5, 1903-1988)

            He was born in Sokolov (Sokoliv), Ukraine.  He studied in a Jewish public school.  In 1921 he emigrated to Canada, living in Winnipeg and later in Toronto.  He was active in the leftist Jewish movement.  He began writing for Frayhayt (Freedom) in New York.  From 1936 he contributed political and literary articles to: Der kamf (The struggle) and Der veg (The way) in Toronto; Hamer (Hammer), Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture), and Morgn frayhayt (Morning freedom) in New York, among others.  From 1940 he edited Vokhnblat (Weekly newspaper) in Toronto.  His used the pen name “Ishika.”  He died in Toronto.

Source: Kh. L. Fuks, Hundert yor yidishe un hebreishe literatur in kanade (A century of Yiddish and Hebrew literature in Canada) (Montreal, 1980).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 167.

YOYSEF GERSHON

YOYSEF GERSHON

            He was the author of: Matilde (Matilda), a story (Minsk: State Publ., 1933), 47 pp.; and Der komyugist pinke (Pinke, the Communist youth) (Minsk: State Publ., 1935), 82 pp.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 167.

AKIVA GERSHATER

AKIVA GERSHATER (1888-1972)

            He was born in Vilna.  He attended religious elementary school and a Russian high school.  He was a bookkeeper.  He survived the Vilna ghetto.  After two years in Paris, he made aliya to Israel in 1949.  He lived in Ḥolon.  Among his books: Fotografishe balaykhtungs-tabeles mit oysfirlekhe derklerungen (Photographic illumination charts with detailed explanations) (Vilna, 1929), 59 pp.  He died in Ḥolon.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 166-67.

SHLOYME GERSON

SHLOYME GERSON (b. 1920)

            He was born in Rozvadov (Roswadów), Poland.  He attended religious primary school, graduating from a public middle school.  He studied painting in Lemberg.  From 1957 he was living on Kibbutz Dafna and later in Jerusalem.  He began writing poetry in Polish and from 1956 he switched to Yiddish.  At the same time he was painting and had several exhibitions of his work.  He published poetry, satires, and fables in: Yidishe shriftn (Yiddish writings) and Folks-shtime (Voice of the people) in Warsaw; Goldene keyt (Golden chain), Letste nayes (Latest news), Fraye yisroel (Free Israel), Lebns-fragn (Life issues), and Problemen (Issues)—in Tel Aviv.  He also published two poetry collections in Polish.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 166.

MENAKHEM-MENDL GERLITS (GETS)

MENAKHEM-MENDL GERLITS (GETS) (b. 1`942)

            He was a Satmer Hassid, author of: Der zayl fun di idishe velt in di letste doyres (The pillar of the Jewish world over the last generations) (Jerusalem: Hotsaat oraita, 1980), 414 pp.; and Yontef ertseylungen (sipure haḥag) pesaḥ (Holiday stories, Passover) (Jerusalem, 1980), 320 pp.  He lives in Jerusalem.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 166.

YEKHIEL GELRING

YEKHIEL GELRING

            He was a teacher in Agudah (Orthodox) schools in Lodz and Warsaw.  He authored: Yehudis un holifornes, historishe forshtelung in 4 bilder (Judith and Holefornes, historical presentation in four scenes) (Warsaw: T. Jakóbson, 1935), 22 pp., “to be staged in religious national schools and organizations”; Yoysef moyker shabes, forshtelung in 5 bilder (Joseph, lover of Sabbath, presentation in five scenes) (Warsaw: Jakóbson, 1935), 25 pp.  On the backside of the title page of Yehudis un holifornes is mention of other books by Gelring: Khane un ire zibn zin (Hannah and her seven sons) and Kenig Akhashveyresh (King Ahasuerus), both: (Warsaw, 1936).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 165.

GREGORIO GELMAN

GREGORIO GELMAN

            He was the author of Di lage un perspektivn fun idishn folk (The condition and perspectives of Jewish people) (Buenos Aires, 1947), 33 pp.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 165.

NOSN GEZENTSVEY

NOSN GEZENTSVEY

            Under the name Yokhanen Hakanai, he edited (with Z. Sinani) Fragn fun program un taktik, ershte teyl (Questions of program and tactics, first part) (Geneva: Party of Socialist Revolutionaries, 1905).  Grigori Aronson has informed us that this was the pseudonym of Nosn Gezentsvey, an activist for the Socialist Revolutionaries.  Another of his pen names was Zaratustra.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 164.

[N.B. See entry under “An-Sky” for some differing information—JAF.]

RISHE GEDULD

RISHE GEDULD (June 8, 1925-February 4, 1997)

            She came from a devout family, born in Lodz.  She survived the ghetto and Auschwitz and in 1948 made aliya to Israel.  She was a teacher in a kindergarten.  She wrote stories for Letste nayes (Latest news), Lebns-fragn (Life issues), and Problemen (Issues)—all in Tel Aviv.  In book form: In di negl fun toyt, fun geto un lager (In the fingernails of death, from the ghetto and concentration camp) (Tel Aviv, 1985), 115 pp.—stories and poetry.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 164.

YOYSEF GEGERMAN

YOYSEF GEGERMAN (b. October 16, 1919)

            He was born in Riga.  He studied in the Jewish middle school of Riga and graduated from the history faculty of Riga’s Latvian Pedagogical Institute.  Over the years 1965-1973, he lived in Moscow and in 1974 emigrated to the United States.  He wrote for Oyfboy (Construction) in Riga, 1940-1941, poems and stories for Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland) in Moscow, and assorted articles for Algemeyner zhurnal (General journal) in New York (1975-1977)—mostly under various and sundry pen names.  In 1966 he began publishing poems, stories, and literary essays in Israeli periodicals.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 163-64.

YOYSEF-YOSI GAMZU

YOYSEF-YOSI GAMZU (b. February 14, 1938)

            He was born in Paris, and in 1939 moved with his family to Israel.  He graduated from the Herzliya High School in Tel Aviv and studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.  He was a Hebrew poet, author of more books in Hebrew.  In Yiddish he wrote one book: Lender fun dorsht, gezamlte lider (Lands of thirst, collected poetry), trans. Lawrence Gretsky (Tel Aviv, Yisroel bukh, 1978), 91 pp.

Sources: Getzel Kressel, Leksikon hasifrut haivrit (Handbook of Hebrew literature) (Merḥavya, 1967), vol. 2; Dovid Volpe, A vort in zayn tsayt, eseyen kritik (A word in its time, essays and criticism) (Johannesburg, 1984), pp. 100-4.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 163.

YANKEV GLEN (JACOB B. GLENN)

YANKEV GLEN (JACOB B. GLENN) (May 2, 1905-July 16, 1974)

            He was born with the surname Glembotski in Meretsh (Merecz, Merech), Lithuania.  In 1923 he moved to the United States, where he received his medical degree and practiced medicine.  From 1963 he published a weekly medical article in Forverts (Forward) in New York.  On other themes he wrote for Hahad (The echo), Haolam (The world), Doar-hayom (Today’s mail), and Hadoar (The mail), among others.  In book form: Tsu gezunt un tsu lebn (To good health and life) (New York, 1968), 461 pp.; Di tsuker-krankeyt in undzer tsayt (Diabetes in our time) (New York, 1973), 88, 89 pp. (in Yiddish and English [Modern Concept of Diabetes Mellitus]).  He died in New York.

Source: Hadoar (New York) (Kislev 1=November 22, 1968).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 162-63.

VOLF GLIKSMAN (WILLIAM GLICKSMAN)

VOLF GLIKSMAN (WILLIAM GLICKSMAN) (July 26, 1905-February 26, 1993)

            He was born in Częstochowa, Poland.  He studied in religious primary school, later in a Jewish high school.  He survived the ghetto and Auschwitz.  In 1947 he settled in Philadelphia where he was a teacher in Jewish public schools.  In 1957 he received his doctoral degree in Jewish history from Dropsie College.  From 1948 he contributed literary and historical articles to: Nyu-yorker vokhnblat (New York weekly newspaper), Tsukunft (Future), and Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture) in New York; Arbeter vort (Workers’ word) in Paris; and Goldene keyt (Golden chain) and Yisroel shtime (Voice of Israel) in Tel Aviv, among other serials.  He published studies of Jews in Poland and of the Holocaust.  These appeared in book form in English.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 162.

YITSKHOK GLIKSBERG

YITSKHOK GLIKSBERG (b. November 3, 1937)

            He was a journalist, born in Montevideo.  He received a general education.  Until 1973 he was a regular contributor to the daily newspaper Unzer fraynt (Our friend) in Montevideo.  He wrote on economic issues.

Sh. S.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 162.

DOVID GALILI-GLATSER

DOVID GALILI-GLATSER (January 24, 1925-March 16, 2003)

            He was born in Nizhnev (Nyshniv), Galicia.  In 1941 he escaped to Soviet Russia.  He served in the Red Army, 1943-1948.  He graduated from the faculty of Russian language and literature in Leningrad, where he was a lecturer in the evening university.  In 1958 he moved to Poland and in 1961 to Israel.  He published poems and articles in Folks-shtime (People’s voice) in Warsaw, as well as Goldene keyt (Golden chain) and Letste nayes (Latest news) in Tel Aviv.  He also wrote in Israeli Russian publications.  In book form: Baym kval (At the source), poems (Tel Aviv: Peretz Publ., 1963), 62 pp.

Ruvn Goldberg

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 161.

ELYE-MEYER GLOT (GLAT)

ELYE-MEYER GLOT (GLAT) 1885-December 4, 1954)

            He was born in Kiev.  He studied in Lithuanian yeshivas.  He spent 1901-1905 in Manchester, later moving to Ottawa.  From 1912 he was an itinerant teacher of Hebrew Bible and Talmud in an Ottawa Talmud-Torah.  From 1915 he was publishing poems and humorous sketches in Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) in Montreal.  In book form: Mafteyekh hakhayim (The key to life) (Ottawa, 1928), 40 pp.; Sefer kinoro shel dovid, a zamlung fun farshidene brilyantene maymorim (David’s harp, a collection of various brilliant treatises) (Ottawa, 1942), 82 pp.  He died in Ottawa.

Source: Kh. L. Fuks, Hundert yor yidishe un hebreishe literatur in kanade (A century of Yiddish and Hebrew literature in Canada) (Montreal, 1980).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 160.

MOYSHE GLAZER

MOYSHE GLAZER (January 17, 1892-December 23, 1984)

            He was born in Zhabakrich, Podolia.  His surname at birth was Gleyzerman.  He studied in religious primary school.  In 1913 he emigrated to the United States.  He lived in New York, Detroit, Montreal, and California.  In 1919 he debuted in print with a poem in Kundes (Prankster) in New York, and he went on to publish children’s poetry in Kalifornyer idishe shtime (Jewish voice of California), as well as Tog-morgn zhurnal (Day-morning journal) and Kinder zhurnal (Children’s journal) in New York.  In book form: Shabes, yontef, khalemoyed (Sabbath, holiday, intermediate days [of Passover and Sukkot]) (Los Angeles, 1957), 16 pp.; Frank un fray, portretlekh (Free as a bird, little portraits) (Los Angeles, 1958), 18 pp.; Mayse breyshes, mayselekh fun der sedre breyshes un fun der sedre noyekh (The story of Genesis, stories from the biblical portion of Bereshit and Noah), poems (Los Angeles, 1959), 16 pp.; Goyim zingen (Gentiles sing) (Los Angeles, 1961), 18 pp.; Lustik, lebedik, freylikh (Brilliant, alive, joyous) (Los Angeles, 1961), 18 pp.; Fun di sheymes fun der alter kloyz (From the stray text pages in an old house of study) (Los Angeles, 1965), 31 pp.  He died in Los Angeles.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 159-60.

YISHAYE-SHIMEN GLAZER

YISHAYE-SHIMEN GLAZER (January 21, 1876-May 22, 1938)

            He was born in Erzvilik (Eržvilkas), Lithuania.  At age twenty-one he received rabbinic ordination, and thereafter moved to the United States.  Over the years 1905-1919, he was rabbi of Quebec.  From 1905 he published articles on issues in education and general Jewish matters in R. Breinin’s Der veg (The way) in Montreal, Idishe zhurnal (Jewish journal) in Toronto, and Dos yidishe vort (The Jewish word) in Winnipeg.  He was co-editor of the weekly newspaper Der idishe shtern (The Jewish star) in Montreal (1907) and editor of Di idishe velt (The Jewish world) in Montreal (1912).  He later began writing in English.  Among his pen names: Zerubavel and Elyel.  He died in New York.

Source: Kh. L. Fuks, Hundert yor yidishe un hebreishe literatur in kanade (A century of Yiddish and Hebrew literature in Canada) (Montreal, 1980).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 159.

SHIMSHEN GLAZMAN (SAMUEL GLASSMAN)

SHIMSHEN GLAZMAN (SAMUEL GLASSMAN) (May 27, 1900-October 1, 1986)

            He was born in Baranovke (Baranovka), Volhynia.  He studied in religious elementary school and yeshiva.  In 1919 he was a teacher in a “cheder metukan” (improved religious elementary school) in Kovno.  He graduated in 1924 from the Jewish teachers’ seminary in New York, and from 1928 he was working as a teacher in Jewish schools.  He contributed with Itshe Libman to Oyfgang (Afresh).  His books include: Megiles fun yam hamelekh (Scrolls from the Dead Sea) (New York: IKUF, 1965), 384 pp.  He also brought out an English-language book on the subject of anti-Semitism: Epic of Survival: Twenty-Five Centuries of Anti-Semitism (New York, 1980), 439 pp.  He was living until his death in Miami Beach.  “With considerable knowledge and proficiency,” noted B. Grin, “the author explains the essence and substance of the discovered scrolls….  He emphasizes the light that they throw on the origins of Christianity, on an eclipsed though extremely important period in Jewish and general history.”

Title page of Miegiles fun yam hamelekh

Source: B. Grin, in Morgn frayhayt (New York) (October 24, 1981).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 159.

D. GINTSBERG

D. GINTSBERG

            He was the author of Khakhomim fun khelm (The wise men of Chelm) (Warsaw: Yidish bukh, 1967).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 158.

YANKEV GINTSBURG

YANKEV GINTSBURG (1870-1944)

            He was born in Yaneve (Jonava), Lithuania.  He emigrated to Philadelphia in 1890.  For many years, 1914-1942, he published the daily newspaper Idishe velt (Jewish world) there.  He was the author of a volume of poetry entitled Knaf renonim (Songbird) (Pittsburgh, 1892).  He died in Philadelphia.

Source: Getzel Kressel, Leksikon hasifrut haivrit (Handbook of Hebrew literature) (Merḥavya, 1967), vol. 1.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 158.

M. GITERMAN

M. GITERMAN

            He was the author of Af der vakh (On guard), notes (Kharkov-Kiev: Ukrainian state publishers for national minorities, 1932), 40 pp.; and Mentshn mit biksn (Men with guns), stories (Kharkov-Kiev: Ukrainian state publishers for national minorities, 1938), 84 pp.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 157.

SHEYNE GITELIS

SHEYNE GITELIS

            In the 1920s she came from Volhynia to Soviet Russia.  She was a Labor Zionist who later became a member of the Community Party.  She graduated from the pedagogical section of the Kiev Institute for Jewish Culture.  She was the author of: Kinder-mayselekh (Children’s tales) (Kiev: Kultur-lige, 1922), 58 pp.; Sotsyalistisher farmest in kinder-gortn (Socialist competition in kindergarten) (Kharkov-Kiev: Ukrainian state publishers for national minorities, 1932), 49 pp.; Shprakh-program inem kinder-gortn (Language program in kindergarten), with Sukenko, R. Liberfarb (Kharkov-Kiev: Ukrainian state publishers for national minorities, 1933), 29 pp.  She also contributed to Kamf af tsvey frontn in der pedagogik (Struggle on two fronts in pedagogy) (Kharkov-Kive, 1932).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 156-57.

YOYSEF GUREVITSH

YOYSEF GUREVITSH (1905-1966)

            He was a translator, born in the city of Bobruisk, Byelorussia, into the family of an artisan.  His father was a carpenter, his mother a stocking maker. In his youth, he helped his father with his work, while at the same time attending school. He graduated from secondary school, and then began working in the city library. He left his hometown in 1927 and came to Moscow to study literature. After completing his courses, he did his army service, and then moved to Birobidzhan to work as director of literature in the Yiddish State Theater. He left Birobidzhan in 1936 and settled in Minsk, where he became a consultant for the newspaper Sovetskaya Belarus’ (Soviet Byelorussia). On June 22, 1941, he went off to the war front. After the war he worked as a bookseller. By happenstance he met the Yiddish poet Shmuel Halkin, who lived next door to him, in the suburban Moscow community of Malakhovka. The poet discovered in his gifted neighbor a creative talent and encouraged him to try his hand at translating from Yiddish into Russian, and first of all to do so with Halpern’s own poetry. The editors at the Russian literary journals in Moscow published his translations, and Gurevitsh became a professional translator. And, thanks to him, Russian readers have become acquainted with the works of Yiddish writers, among them the classical authors—Sholem-Aleichem, Mendele-Moykher Sforim, and Y. L. Perets. In translation he also published the work of Yiddish poets: Leyb Kvitko, Osher Shvartsman, Itsik Fefer, Zyame Telesin, Itshe Borukhovitsh, and others. His translation of Sholem Ash’s Di muter (The mother) received the highest reviews on the part of critics and readers.

Source: Sovetish heymland, Materyaln far a leksikon fun der yidisher sovetisher literatur (Materials for a handbook of Soviet Jewish literature) (September 1975).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 156; additional information from: Chaim Beider, Leksikon fun yidishe shrayber in ratn-farband (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers in the Soviet Union), ed. Boris Sandler and Gennady Estraikh (New York: Congress for Jewish Culture, Inc., 2011), p. 80.

SHIYE (YEHOSHUA) GUREVITSH

SHIYE (YEHOSHUA) GUREVITSH

            He was a musician and painter, born in Otik (Ataki, Otaci), Bessarabia.  Over the last decade he began writing stories.  He studied music in Odessa.  From 1964 he was living in Israel.  In book form: Shtetelekh mit yidn, dertseylungen fun besarabye farn khurbn (Towns with Jews, stories of Bessarabia before the Holocaust) (Tel Aviv, 1971), 215 pp.

Source: D. Gledi, in Maariv (January 21, 1971).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 155-56.

KHAYIM GUREVITSH

KHAYIM GUREVITSH (b. 1916)

            He was a poet and prose author, born in Starobin, Byelorussia, into the family of a wagon driver.  He graduated from the local Jewish school and later from a medical practicum but showed no interest in working in that line. He went to serve in the military and took part in WWII. In the 1950s he lived and worked in Birobidzhan, later moving to Novosibirsk. His first poems were published in 1934 in the journal Shtern (Star) in Minsk, in the newspapers Oktyabr (October) and Der yunger arbeter (The young laborer), and later in Birebidzhaner shtern (Birobidzhan star). In 1940, he and the poets Itshe Borukhovitsh, Shimen Leltshuk, and Pinye Plotkin published with the Byelorussian State Publishers “Literatura i mastetstvo” (Literature and art) a collection entitled Lirik (Lyric), which received a good response. The subsequent poetic pathway for the young poet was for a long period of time cut short, and his poems and stories again emerged in the 1960s in the Moscow journal Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland). The main theme of his later poetry was the life and conditions of Siberian Jewry, who remained living in that region ever since the evacuation of western districts and the war years, as well as their memories linking them to Byelorussia. In 1993 he made aliya to Israel and settled in the city of Beersheva.

His books include: Lider-zamlung (Poetry collection) (Minsk: State Publ., 1940), 91 pp., with Itshe Borukhovitsh, Shimen Leltshuk, and Pinye Plotkin; Af sibirer erd (On Siberian soil) (Moscow: Sovetski pisatel, 1980), 59 pp.; Noente vaytn lider (Poems far and near) (Moscow: Sovetski pisatel, 1986), 140 pp.; A blits a tsetsvaygter (A flash, a divergence), poetry (Tel Aviv, 1997). His work was also included in: Kinder-shafung (Children’s creation) (Odessa: Kinder farlag, 1935); Horizontn (Horizons) (Moscow, 1965).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 155; additional information from: Chaim Beider, Leksikon fun yidishe shrayber in ratn-farband (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers in the Soviet Union), ed. Boris Sandler and Gennady Estraikh (New York: Congress for Jewish Culture, Inc., 2011), pp. 80-81.

HERSHL GURLAND

HERSHL GURLAND (1899-February 4, 1972)

            He was born in Aryev, Bessarabia.  In 1921 he moved to Canada.  He worked as a clothes presser, later becoming a teacher in schools run by the “Ordn” (International Workers’ Order).  In 1929 he debuted in print with a story in Der kamf (The struggle) in Toronto.  He was a contributor to the leftist press and for a time editor of Vokhnblat (Weekly newspaper) in Toronto.  He wrote articles as well for Hamer (Hammer), Der veg (The way), Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture), and Morgn frayhayt (Morning freedom), among other serials.  He died in Toronto.

Source: Kh. L. Fuks, Hundert yor yidishe un hebreishe literatur in kanade (A century of Yiddish and Hebrew literature in Canada) (Montreal, 1980).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 155.

KHAYIM GURT

KHAYIM GURT (July 22, 1906-August 24, 1975)

            He was born in Bzezin, Poland.  In 1937 he emigrated to Australia.  He published translations from Hebrew in the local Yiddish press.  In 1958 he made aliya to Israel.  He translated Sh. Y. Agnon’s Tsvishn alt un nay, oysderveylte dertseylungen (Between old and new, selected stories), with a preface by Dov Sadan (Tel Aviv: Yisroel-bukh, 1978), 246 pp.  He died in Tel Aviv.

Ruvn Goldberg

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 154.

URAN GURALNIK

URAN GURALNIK (1921-1989)

            He was a literary researcher and critic, born in Vinitse (Vinnytsya), Ukraine.  He graduated from the local Jewish secondary school and later from the philology department of Moscow Pedagogical Institute.  In 1941 he went to the war front, and he later described those harsh war years in essays published in the Moscow journal Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland)—e.g., the sketches “An epizod fun a sakh” (An episode among many) 3 (1975), “Farn zig funem lebn” (For the goal of life) 8 (1975), and “Dos atakirndike vort” (The word to attack) 5 (1985), among others. After demobilization, starting in 1946, he worked in the Maxim Gorky Institute of World Literature in Moscow within the Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R.  He wrote scholarly research pieces on the history of Russian literature and criticism (primarily concerning the lives and works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolay Chernyshevsky, and Nikolay Dobrolyubov). He debuted in print in Yiddish with poems in the Kharkov children’s newspaper, Zay greyt (Get ready) in 1934 and, after the war, with articles in the Moscow newspaper Eynikeyt (Unity). In 1973 he published in Sovetish heymland an autobiographical story entitled “Nekhtn, haynt, morgn…” (Yesterday, today, tomorrow). In the same venue he published more than thirty articles about books, authors, issues involving literary life, interrelations between the classical Yiddish writers and Soviet literature with the literatures of other peoples, and new phenomena in world literature. He died in Moscow.

            In book form: Tife vortslen, literatur-kritishe forshungen (Deep roots, literary critical research) (Moscow: Sovetski pisatel, 1983), 64 pp.

Sources: Sovetish heymland, Materyaln far a leksikon fun der yidisher sovetisher literatur (Materials for a handbook of Soviet Jewish literature) (September 1975); Uriel Weinreich, Field of Yiddish (New York, 1954), p. 52.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 154; additional information from: Chaim Beider, Leksikon fun yidishe shrayber in ratn-farband (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers in the Soviet Union), ed. Boris Sandler and Gennady Estraikh (New York: Congress for Jewish Culture, Inc., 2011), p. 79.

YANKEV GORA

YANKEV GORA (1896-July 1976)

            He was born in Warsaw.  He received both a Jewish and a secular education.  He survived the Warsaw Ghetto and Auschwitz.  From 1948 he was living in Ottawa.  He published articles and memoirs about the camps in such serials as: Keneder odler (Canadian eagle) in Montreal, Idishe zhurnal (Jewish journal) in Toronto, and Tog (Day) and Morgn zhurnal (Morning) in New York.  In book form: Dos iz der emes, emes hundert protsent (This is the truth, the truth 100%) (Montreal, 1966), 100 pp.  He died in Ottawa.

Source: Kh. L. Fuks, Hundert yor yidishe un hebreishe literatur in kanade (A century of Yiddish and Hebrew literature in Canada) (Montreal, 1980).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 154.

YANKL GUTKOVITSH

YANKL GUTKOVITSH (October 20, 1909-May 7, 1982)

          He was born in Vilna.  He studied in a Talmud-Torah and graduated from the trade school “Hilf durkh arbet” (Help through labor).  He was active in the leftist movement.  During WWII he served in the Red Army.  He returned to Vilna thereafter and there he served as manager of the Jewish State Museum.  From 1959 he was in Warsaw, and in 1969 he emigrated to the United States.  He wrote about Jewish cultural issues and Yiddish writers in the Warsaw daily newspaper Folks-shtime (Voice of the people), which he co-edited, 1962-1968; and in Literarishe shriftn (Literary writings), Tsukunft (Future), Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture), and Unzer tsayt (Our time)—in New York; and Yerusholaimer almanakh (Jerusalem almanac).  In book form: Af ale teg fun a gants yor, literarish-historisher kalendar (Every day for a full year, literary historical calendar) (Warsaw: Yidish bukh, 1966), 270 pp.  He died in New York.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 153.

SHMARYE GUTMAN

SHMARYE GUTMAN (November 22, 1897-August 18, 1975)

            He was born in Radom, Poland.  He studied in religious elementary school.  In 1927 he emigrated to Paris.  He worked as a craftsman.  He wrote articles in the periodicals Hamer (Hammer) and Nest (Nest) and the daily newspaper Naye prese (New press) in Paris (until the 1950s), later for Unzer vort (Our word) in Paris, in which he also published his novel Afn radomer trakt (On the Radom highway).  In book form: Di vanderungen fun menkhem gotfrid (The wanderings of Menahem Gotfrid), unseen; A keyt fun doyres, roman (A chain of generations, a novel) (Paris, 1955), 254 pp.  He died in Paris.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 152.

RIVKE GVIRTSMAN

RIVKE GVIRTSMAN (b. May 18, 1907)

            She was born in Lodz.  She received a traditional Jewish and a secular education.  She was active in Haḥaluts (The pioneer) movement.  In 1929 she made aliya to Palestine.  She published poems and articles in the Israeli Letste nayes (Latest news), Yidishe tsaytung (Jewish newspaper), Problemen (Issues), and Lebns-fragn (Life issues) in Yiddish, and in Hebrew serials as well.  In book form: Afn bergl in negev, roman (On a hill in the Negev, a novel) (Tel Aviv: Nay-lebn, 1966), 392 pp. (it had been published serially in Yidishe tsaytung in 1962); Der mentsh un zayn goyrl, roman (Man and his fate, a novel) (Tel Aviv, 1974), 274 pp.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 150.

LEYB GUDMAN

LEYB GUDMAN (b. December 2, 1906)

            He was born in Dvinsk (Daugavpils), Latvia.  He studied in “cheder metukan” (improved religious elementary school), graduating from a Hebrew high school in Dvinsk and the Hebrew teachers’ seminary in Riga.  In 1929 he moved to Johannesburg.  He was one of the founders of the “South African Jewish Cultural Federation” and of its organ, Dorem-afrike (South Africa).  In 1926 he debuted in print with articles in Unzer teatr (Our theater).  Over the years 1926-1929, he wrote for the daily newspapers, Frimorgn (Morning), Ashmodai, and Di volkh (The week)—all in Riga; later for Dorem-afrike; Heymish (Familiar) in Tel Aviv; and Tsukunft (Future) and Yidishe kultur (Jewish culture) in New York.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), cols. 149-50.

YOYSEF GUDMAN

YOYSEF GUDMAN (b. 1870)

            He was born in Konotop, Ukraine.  In 1887 he emigrated to New York, later moving to Canada.  He lived in the Sommerfeld Colony, later in Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Montreal.  We have no news of him after 1922.  In 1906 he edited the biweekly newspaper Viderklang (Echo) in Winnipeg; and Der birger (The citizen), “periodical for poetry, literature, and satire” (last issue, no. 17, June 20, 1913); co-edited the biweekly Kanader mazik (Canadian brat) (no. 8, 1912).  He wrote poetry, humorous sketches, stories, and reportage pieces in: Kanader id (Canadian Jew) (1909-1910); Dos idishe vort (The Yiddish word); Dos idishe lebn (The Jewish life) (1913); Forverts (Forward); Der kundes (The prankster); and Der kibitser (The joker), among others.  In book form: Gezamlte lider (Collected poems) (Winnipeg, 1919), 144 pp.  He used such pseudonyms as: Ish Doyg, A Kestkind, Baron Tengelbender, Akosta, Khap-lap, Ish Oshir, and Humorustikana.

Source: Kh. L. Fuks, Hundert yor yidishe un hebreishe literatur in kanade (A century of Yiddish and Hebrew literature in Canada) (Montreal, 1980).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 149.

ALEKSANDER GUBNITSKI

ALEKSANDER GUBNITSKI (August 22, 1912-1974)

            He was a prose author, born in Monasterishche (Monasteriska), Kiev Province, Ukraine, into the family of a cooper.  In the late 1920s he moved with his parents to Birobidzhan, where he worked as a driver, and in the mid-1930s to Moscow, where he worked in construction of the metropolitan subway. It was at this time that his first literary efforts, which he brought to the editorial offices of the newspaper Der emes (The truth), earned him the encouragement of Dovid Bergelson, and his first stories were published in 1932 in that newspaper as well as in other newspapers. When WWII began, he proceeded to the front. His first book, Shofern (Drivers), was autobiographical and was published in 1960 in Russian as Shoferi. Beginning in 1961, he published his writings in the Moscow journal Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland)—“Der veg af volgograd” (The road to Volgograd), “A tog in bratsk” (A day in Bratsk), “Shakhtyorn” (Miners), “Der balebos fun yam” (Boss of the sea), “Sumgayit” (Sunqayit), the long autobiographical story “Mayn yikhes” (My pedigree), and others. In his sketches and stories, he provides an artistic embodiment of actual problems with which his protagonists lived at that time—Jews and Gentiles, especially from urban labor circles. His style was characterized by a juicy folk language with a humorous hue. He died in Moscow.

           The majority of his output was published in Sovetish heymland (Soviet homeland).  In book form: Mayn oytser (My treasure) (Moscow: Sovetski pisatel, 1973), 358 pp.; Eygene mentshn (Our own folks) (Moscow: Sovetski pisatel, 1983), 62 pp. 

Source: Sovetish heymland, Materyaln far a leksikon fun der yidisher sovetisher literatur (Materials for a handbook of Soviet Jewish literature) (September 1975).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 148; and Chaim Beider, Leksikon fun yidishe shrayber in ratn-farband (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers in the Soviet Union), ed. Boris Sandler and Gennady Estraikh (New York: Congress for Jewish Culture, Inc., 2011), p. 77.

SHLOYME GORELIK

SHLOYME GORELIK (1901-1948)

            He was born in Shchedrin (Shchadryn), Byelorussia.  After WWI he emigrated to Canada.  He settled in Hamilton, later moving to Toronto.  He was the author of a volume of stories: In orime heymen (In poor homes) (Toronto, 1941), 114 pp.  He died in Toronto.

Source: Kh. L. Fuks, Hundert yor yidishe un hebreishe literatur in kanade (A century of Yiddish and Hebrew literature in Canada) (Montreal, 1980).

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 148.

P. GORELIK

P. GORELIK

            He was the author of In di mliner veltn, novele (In the realms of Mline, a novel) (Tel Aviv: Peretz Publ., 1960), 438 pp.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 147.

YANKEV GORELIK

YANKEV GORELIK (December 19, 1904-November 15, 1996)

            He was born in Shchedrin (Shchadryn), Byelorussia.  He studied in religious elementary school and yeshiva.  In 1922 he emigrated to the United States.  From 1952 he began to publish poetry and stories in: Amerikaner (American), Oyfsnay (Afresh), Tog-morgn zhurnal Day morning journal), Kinder-tsaytung (Children’s newspaper), and Svive (Environs)—in New York.  He also brought out: Lider-zamlung Poetry collection) (New York, 1980), 32 pp., in mimeograph format.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 147.

PEYSEKH GORDON

PEYSEKH GORDON

            He was born in Plotl (Plateliai), Lithuania.  He studied in religious elementary school and yeshiva.  In book form: Tsu kaykhen far gelekhter, vol. 1: Humoristishe mayses, sharfzinige vitsn, aforizmen un glaykhvertlekh (Gasping for laughter, vol. 1: Humorous tales, spirited jokes, aphorisms, and witticisms) (Tel Aviv, 1934), 279 pp.; Der tshikaver sharfziniger humorist, humoristishe mayses un sharfzinige vitsn (The curious, spirited humorist, humorous tales and spirited jokes) (Tel Aviv, 1935/1936), 288 pp.; Der oytser fun mayn gedanken-velt, sharfzinike aforizmen, epigramen un glaykhvertlekh (Treasury from my world of ideas: spirited aphorisms, epigrams, and witticisms), vol. 3 (Tel Aviv, 1936/1937), 194 pp.  In truth, he was a little-known humorist.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 146.

KH. V. GORDON

KH. V. GORDON

            He lived in Vilna.  He was the author of Falshe vegn (False roads), a drama in four acts (Vilna: L. Yabrov, 1912/1913), 64 pp.  He used the pen name “Ben-Tsien.”

Ezra Lahad

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 145.

YOYNE GORODISKI (JUAN GORODISKY)

YOYNE GORODISKI (JUAN GORODISKY) (1895-October 15, 1977)

            He was born in Kazloyshtshine (Kazloŭščyna), near Slonim.  He moved to Argentina in 1912.  He was the cofounder of the publishing house “Bukhgemeynshaft fun der ratsyonalistisher gezelshaft” (Book club of rational society) in Buenos Aires.  For several decades he edited the anarchist monthly Dos fraye vort (The free word).  In book form: Aroyshevorfene reyd (Futile speech) (Buenos Aires, 1948), 190 pp.; Dovid edelshtat (David Edelshtat) (Buenos Aires, 1952), 30 pp.; Kegn shtrom (Against the current) (Buenos Aires, 1978), 270 pp.  He also translated Francisco Ferer, Di moderne shul (The modern school [original: La escuela moderna]) (Buenos Aires), 197 pp.  He died in Buenos Aires.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 145.

AVROM GOFLAT

AVROM GOFLAT (December 13, 1920-January 14, 1989)

            He was born in Lodz.  He graduated from public school.  During the Holocaust he was saved by a Gentile who hid him.  In 1946 he was in a survivors’ camp in Germany.  There he brought out Pokinger tsaytung (Pocking newspaper) from 1946 to 1948 in Roman script.  From 1948 he was in Israel.  He cofounded the Goldfaden Theater in Israel.  In Israel he began publishing feature pieces and humorous sketches in Yisroel shtime (Voice of Israel), Letste nayes (Latest news), and Legns-fragn (Life issues) in Tel Aviv.  In book form: Geshtoygn un gefloygn, yisroel oyf freylekh (Completely true: Israel cheered up) (Tel Aviv: Hamenorah, 1964), 263 pp.  Since 1966 he has been engaged in painting.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 144.

ZALMEN GOSTINSKI

ZALMEN GOSTINSKI (b. 1917)

            He was born in Kovel (Kovle), Volhynia.  He published: Shteyner dertseyln (The stones recount) (Paris: Union of Eastern European Jews, 1973), 122 pp., picture album from the Association of Polish Communities.  In more recent years, he edited Af der vakh (On guard) in Paris.

Source: Rivke Kope, Intim mitn bukh (Intimate with the book), vol. 2 (Paris, 1983), pp. 127-30.

Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 144.