Zigmunt Hart

Zigmunt Hart was born on 20 April 1866 in Czernowitz, Bukovina.

Parents -- Businessmen who moved in 1869 to Galatz (Galati, Romania - ed.). There H. completed school, and his parents, who were modern people, sent him to Vienna for his studies. However, because of his father's death, H. halted his studies at the age of sixteen.

Still a student though, H. became well-known in the German theatre, where he started to sing soprano, and subsequently as a baritone. Afterwards, H. entered the German theatre in Czernowitz (directed then by Wolff), where he acted for three years, mostly assuming the role of a lover. 

He then moved to the Rumanian provincial troupe of Burienescu, with which he played two years in Rumanian. Later he joined Hurwitz, and traveled with this Yiddish troupe to Budapest.

After that, H. played for two years with Treitler in Galatz (Galati, Rumania - ed.). Next he joined Segalesko and toured over the whole of Rumania, and then joined Goldfaden's group. There H. played for the first time the role of "Abraham" in "The Sacrifice of Isaac" or "Isaac's Attempted Sacrifice" (the attempted sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham - ed.)

Because of family problems H. stopped acting in the theatre, and during a period of twelve years, he managed a sawmill.

In 1905 H. arrived in the United States, where he played for ten years with Simon in Cleveland, became a member of the Variety union, and played for three months in Variety in New York, then three years of legitimate theatre with Weissman in Montreal, then a short time again with Simon in Cleveland, and then he stopped acting for good.

H. did write an operetta entitled "Shimshon hagibor", and translated the drama "The Blind from Paris" and "The Daughter of Rabbi Leo". All three were played by Segalesko in Romania.


M. E.