BERL PADOVITSH

BERL PADOVITSH (1899-February 29, 1972)

            He hailed from Lithuania.  In 1915 when Lithuanian Jews were expelled during WWI, he found himself dragged off to Kremenchuk.  He graduated from high school and studied at Kiev University as well as in a drama school.  From 1916 he was an actor and director in the Yiddish theater.  He lived in Russia until 1922 and contributed to public education.  He debuted in print in 1916 with a monologue, Der groyl fun der milkhome (The horror of the war).  In 1918 he wrote the play, Der yosem (The orphan), which was staged in Kremenchuk.  He also authored the drama Der kantonist (The Jewish lad pressed into long-term military service in Russia) (Kovno, 1923), 62 pp.  He published theater reviews in Nayes (News) in Kovno and in other serials.  In 1927 he settled in South Africa and wrote there for Der afrikaner (The African) and Dorem-afrike (South Africa), among other venues.  He owned a bookshop in Johannesburg, where he died.

Sources: Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon fun yidishn teater (Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 3 (New York, 1959), p. 1601; information from Yudel Mark in New York.

Khayim Leyb Fuks

[Additional information from: Berl Kagan, comp., Leksikon fun yidish-shraybers (Biographical dictionary of Yiddish writers) (New York, 1986), col. 422.]