ELYE (ALEXANDER) FIDELMAN (1825/1827-March 10, 1892)
He was
born in Minsk. His father Ruvn was a
musician. He learned from his father to
play the violin, as well as the cello and guitar. Under the influence of his father, he became
a wedding entertainer and acquired a name in Minsk and in the surrounding
region. He was also for a time a writer
in the Minsk Jewish hospital and in the Jewish community hall. Thanks to the well-known Paulina Vengrov (she
mentions him in her famous memoirs), two collections of his poems were
published: Shire osef oder di
kleyn-shtetldike khasene (Song collection or the small-town wedding) (Vilna:
Rozenharts, 1872/1873); and Lider tsum
tsayt fartraybung (Poems from a time of exile) (Vilna: Rom, 1877). Aside from a string of unpublished poems, a
dramatic work by him entitled “Shimshn hagiber” (Samson the mighty) (1883) has
been preserved. In his depictions of
Minsk and the environs, it was need and poverty that dominated. His language is rough but energized with folk
expressiveness, coarse humor, and satire.
He was in particular a master of describing people.
Sources: Zalmen Reyzen, Leksikon, vol. 3; N. O. (N. Oyslender), in Tsaytshrift (Minsk) 1 (1926), pp. 262-64; Zalmen Zilbertsvayg, Leksikon
fun yidishn teater
(Handbook of the Yiddish theater), vol. 1 (New York, 1931), pp. 142-43.
Leyb Vaserman
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