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

1931-1969
 

Bernard Weinstein

 

W. was born on 10 July 1866 in Odessa, Ukraine, into a poor family. When he was young he became an orphan, and W. came on as an [overwriter=oybershreiber] for a lawyer. Often he would attend the wine cellars, where he used to perform as a Yiddish folk singer.

At the age of sixteen he immigrated to America. Here he entered into work in a cigar factory and soon became active in the Socialist movement, mainly around organizing the unions.

In 1888 he became first secretary of the United Yiddish Workshops.

Since 1890 journalistically active, he became a permanent co-worker of the "Forward" and went then put out a special book of his memories about the Yiddish worker's movement in America.

Among his memories W. also published ("Forward", 15 April, 14 May 1924, 30th-year jubilee number and 24 April 1927) several pages of memories about the Yiddish folksingers in Odessa, about the first performances in Odessa (1879), the first Yiddish performance in America (1882-83), the history of the Yiddish variety theatres in America and of the Yiddish actors and Chorus-Unions".

 

  • Z. Reyzen -- "Lexicon of Yiddish Literature", Vol. I, pp. 957-8.

  • "Goldfaden'bukh", New York, 1926, p. 90.

  • B. Weinstein -- "Di ershte teater-forshtelung in amerike" ("Teater zkhrunut", editor Z. Zylbercweig), Vilna, 1928, pp. 69-72.

  • B. Weinstein -- "Di isidhe yunions in amerike", N. Y., 1929, pp. 125-136.


 

 

 

 


 

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Adapted from the original Yiddish text found within the  "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre" by Zalmen Zylbercweig, Volume 1, page 692.
 

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