Lives in the Yiddish Theatre
SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF THOSE INVOLVED IN THE yIDDISH THEATRE
aS DESCRIBED IN zALMEN zYLBERCWEIG'S "lEKSIKON FUN YIDISHN TEATER"

1931-1967
 

Esther Orzhevskaya
(Sniegov)

 

Born 1881in Yekaterinoslav, Ukraine. She graduated from the Russian Dramatic School in Kiev and acted afterwards on the Russian stage and with the major troupes within the Russian state.

In wartime she came to Poland, and together with her husband, Leonid Sniegov, began in 1919 to act in Yiddish plays, at first with the Vilna Troupe, performing in Surgutshov's "Harbst-fidlen (August Violins?)", and later made a tour throughout Poland and Lithuania, and traveled in 1920 to America.

Here O. played several months in Schnitzer's Art Theatre, afterwards a short time at the People's Theatre with Goldenburg and Max Rosenthal, and for a long time, because of union service, in general did not act.

From 1923-24 O. was engaged at the Yiddish Art Theatre where she had, now as Sniegov, acted as "Sarah" in Zhulavsky's "Sabbatai zvi", "Yetta" in Leivick's "Betler (Beggars)", and other pieces manifesting her  performance abilities for cultural and dramatic craft.

After having played the chief female role in Bramson's "Eibiker lign (The Eternal Lie)", O., due to illness, was forced to cut short her acting. She then traveled to Denver, Colorado, was sick for seven months.

Then came a lung inflammation and she passed away on 2 December 1924. She was brought to her final resting place in the cemetery of the "Arbeiter-Ring (Workmen's Circle)" in New York.

O.'s last request was that she be allowed to arrive at the cemetery in the clothes from her last role, her final performance.

Her gravestone is the work of sculptor Avraham Eisenberg.
 

M. E. from Leonid Sniegov.

  • B. Gorin -- "History of Yiddish Theatre", Vol. II, p. 245.

  • S. Dingal -- Ester Sniegov, "Der tog", N.Y., 25 Dec. 1945.


 

 

 

 


 

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Adapted from the original Yiddish text found within the  "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre" by Zalmen Zylbercweig, Volume 1, page 92.
 

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