SIMON FREEMAN

SIMON FREEMAN (b. March 15, 1862)

            He was born in Kovno, Lithuania.  At age fourteen he took an administrative job with the Kovno police.  In 1880 he moved to London.  He was one of the founders of the Jewish Labor Club.  He wrote several items for the stage, and he composed poems for M. Winchevsky’s Poylisher idel (Polish Jew) and later for Arbayter fraynd (Workers’ friend).  He also wrote weekly articles entitled “Pitslekh un breklekh” (Bits and pieces).  From English he translated: Robert Ingersoll’s “Di toesn fun moyshe rabeynu” (The errors of Moses), published in Arbayter fraynd in 1892—later, the translation appeared in book form (London: Grupe Frayhayt, 1905; fourth printing, London: A. Golub, 1910), 95 pp.; and Thomas Paine’s “Di tsayt fun farshtand” (The age of reason), which was incomplete at the time the newspaper ceased publication.

Sources: Kalmen Marmor, “Der onheyb fun der yidisher literatur in amerike” (The beginning of Yiddish literature in America), Almanakh fun internatsyonaln arbeter-ordn (Almanac of the International Labor Order) (New York, 1940), p. 32; Rudolf Rocker, In shturem (In the storm) (Buenos Aires, 1952); Dov Sadan, in Leshonenu (Jerusalem) (Kislev [= November-December] 1962).

Yankev Kahan