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Zunser, Eliakum

(Encyclopedia)Zunser, Eliakum ĕlˈyōko͝om tso͝onˈzər [key], 1846–1913, Lithuanian folk poet and singer who wrote in Yiddish. The most popular Jewish folk singer of his time, he appeared at weddings all over...

Schildkraut, Rudolph

(Encyclopedia)Schildkraut, Rudolph shĭltˈkrout [key], 1862–1930, Austrian actor. He was a member of Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater, Berlin. In 1911 he came to the United States and until 1922 was a star of t...

Grade, Chaim

(Encyclopedia)Grade, Chaim khīəm grädˈə [key], 1910–82, Lithuanian novelist and poet. Grade, who wrote in Yiddish, became one of the prominant members of an experimental writers' group during the 1930s. Afte...

Ansky, Shloime

(Encyclopedia)Ansky, Shloime shloiˈmə änˈskē [key] pseud. of Solomon Seinwil Rapoport, 1863–1920, Russian-Yiddish author. He extensively researched regional Jewish folklore and incorporated folk elements int...

Bialik, Hayyim Nahman

(Encyclopedia)Bialik, Hayyim Nahman hīˈyəm näˈmən byäˈlēk [key], 1873–1934, Hebrew poet, publisher in Odessa, Berlin, and Tel-Aviv, b. Volhynia, Russia. As an editor and publisher Bialik spread the ideas...

Muni, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Muni, Paul myo͞oˈnē [key], 1895–1967, American actor, b. Austria, whose original name was Muni Weisenfreund. His parents brought him to the United States in 1902 and from 1903 to 1913 toured with...

Cahan, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Cahan, Abraham kän [key], 1860–1951, Russian-American journalist, Socialist leader, and author, b. Vilnius, Lithuania. He emigrated to New York City in 1882, entered journalism, and helped found th...

Rosenfeld, Morris

(Encyclopedia)Rosenfeld, Morris rōˈzənfĕlt [key], 1862–1923, Jewish poet, b. Russian Poland. His name was originally Moshe Jacob Alter. He worked as a tailor in London and as a diamond grinder in Amsterdam be...

Howe, Irving

(Encyclopedia)Howe, Irving, 1920–93, American literary and social critic, b. New York City. From his early days as a Trotskyist to his later (and lifelong) position as a democratic socialist, Howe criticized Stal...

Cahn, Sammy

(Encyclopedia)Cahn, Sammy kän [key], 1913–93, American lyricist, b. New York City as Samuel Cohen. With his first collaborator, Saul Chaplin, he wrote material for vaudeville, and scored his first success (1935)...