ALTER MELITSER

ALTER MELITSER

            The pen name of Alter Herts, he was born in Myelets (Mielec), near Tarnov (Tarnów), western Galicia.  He studied in religious elementary school and synagogue study hall.  He was a well-known wedding entertainer in Galicia, who would bring joy to happy occasions in the courts of Hassidic Jews.  Later he became so popular that people would summon him to weddings and joyous events in Berlin and London.  He was the author of a book of poems in Hebrew and Yiddish entitled Kenaf renanim (Songbird) (Przemyśl, 1909).  Further biographical details remain unknown.

Sources: Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 2 (New York, 1934); information from M. Horovits in Brooklyn, New York.

Benyomen Elis