MAX MILTON

MAX MILTON (1868-August 2, 1946)

            The adopted name of Mendl Kolton, he was born in Warsaw, Poland.  In 1892 he moved to New York, where he debuted in print (1894) with a socially-themed poem in Fraye arbeter-shtime (Free voice of labor).  In 1896 he went to London, and two years later on to Cape Town, South Africa, where, together with his older brother, Yudl Milton, he worked in artistic stone engravings and gypsum ornaments.  He returned to London in 1903 and in 1904 to New York.  He published poetry and stories in: Di naye velt (The new world) in London; Di idishe velt (The Jewish world), Forverts (Forward), Eplberg’s Yontef-bleter (Holiday sheets), Der groyser kundes (The great prankster), and Di feder (The pen), among others—in New York.  He translated Wilhelm Liebknecht’s pamphlet Di varhayt iber dem sotsyalizm (The truth about socialism) (London, 1902), 54 pp.  With his older brother, he penned: Der khaos oder di letste yudishe hofnung (Chaos or the last Jewish hope), a drama in four acts, preface by A. V. Finkelshteyn (London, 1909), 101 pp.  Other writings in book form include: Ven blut shrayt (When blood cries out) (1925); and Lider fun lebn (Poems of life) (Chicago, 1936), 32 pp.  Among his unpublished writings, he also left behind an autobiographical novel entitled “Dos elfte gebot” (The eleventh commandment).  He was blind during the last years of his life.  He died in Chicago.

Sources: Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 2 (New York, 1934); E. Almi, in Forverts (New York) (April 23, 1932); Almi, Momentn fun a lebn (Moments in a life) (Buenos Aires, 1948), pp. 67, 68, 69; N. B. Minkov, in Kultur un dertsiung (New York) (January 1947); Sh. Slutski, Avrom reyzen biblyografye (Avrom Reyzen’s bibliography) (New York, 1956), no. 5044.

Benyomen Elis