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Mary Abramov
(Miriam Eynhorn)
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Born in Radomysl, Kiev
Gubernia, Ukraine. Father had traded in lumber and grain
and was the owner of the local "Pilsner Beer Brewery".
Still in school she manifested a great desire to sing
and dance and was the darling of the town. In the
beginning of 1916, the pogromists attacked their house,
slaughtered her parents, and of the fourteen children --
two sisters and a brother. A. was taken to Kiev by an
older sister, where she further continued her studies in
a school. In her early youth she became interested in
the Yiddish theatre, and, appearing much older than her
years, the actor Boris Abramov fell in love with her,
and they got married. She entered into the troupe which
was under the auspices of Isak Samberg in Kremenchug,
and she acted there in young and soubrette roles. From
there she went over to the troupe of Harlamp-Kanievsky
in Poltava. In 1918, during the invasion of the Ukraine,
she went away to Minsk, from there to Vilna and then to
Odessa -- in the troupe of Rappel, where Clara Young
guest-starred. A. then entered into the Yiddish art
theatre with Bartanov at its head, but due to the
anxious times the theatre closed and the actors
disbanded, and she traveled with a troupe to the Crimea,
but also there felt the anxiety and fled to
Constantinople, where she began to act gebn
Galata quarters (the center of white slavery), and
traveled to Bulgaria, where she acted in vaudeville and
sang in several languages, then she went to Romania,
where she acted in Itsikl Goldenburg's troupe and had
great success in "A mentsh zol men zeyn". From
there she traveled to Romania, settled in Frankfurt aum
Mein (Germany) |
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and again migrated across
Switzerland, France, Belgium and Brussels, where her
husband directed three theares with Joseph Kessler and
Nathan Blumenthal. She then became hired for Henry
Berman and the Shlezinger theatre society for South
Africa, where she acted for two seasons in the main
women's roles in "Bar Mitzvah" (ninety times), "Palestiner
libe" and "Di rumanishe khasune". Among the seasons she
performed in concerts, traveled across Africa and
prepared to travel in 1931 to Australia, but due to a
family situation, it didn't happen and she remained in
Johannesburg, where she took part in concerts and
entertainments for viltetike purposes, and helped
organize the testimonial evenings for Sara Silvia's
seventieth birthday. In the last years in South Africa,
Max Perlman, Joseph Markovitsh et al guest-starred, and
A. participated in his productions, but although she
officially withdrew from the stage, she further
maintained a connection with the Yiddish actors and
other artists through generous synagogue guests in her
home.
Together with her husband,
she visited America in 1965 and 1967 and refreshed her
contact with the Yiddish theatre family.
Her daughter Joyce in 1952
traveled to Los Angeles to study, and there she
participated in English in Maurice Schwartz's
English-Yiddish troupe. In married life -- Mrs. Trenk, a
mother of three children, who suffered a tragedy of her
parents, to have a house open for Jewish artists.
M. E. and Sh.
E. from Oscar Ostroff. |
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