Abraham Goldfaden Yiddish: אברהם גאָלדפֿאַדען; (born Avrum Goldnfoden; the Romanian spelling Avram Goldfaden is common; 24 July 1840 in Starokostiantyniv- 9 January 1908 in New York) was an Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Yiddish and Hebrew, author of some 40 plays. Goldfaden is considered the father of the Jewish modern theatre.
Abraham Goldfaden Yiddish: אברהם גאָלדפֿאַדען; (born Avrum Goldnfoden; the Romanian spelling Avram Goldfaden is common; 24 July 1840 in Starokostiantyniv- 9 January 1908 in New York) was an Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Yiddish and Hebrew, author of some 40 plays. Goldfaden is considered the father of the Jewish modern theatre.
Goldfaden, Abraham (go#x14D;ldf #xE4;dx'un) [key], 1840?–1908, Hebrew and Yiddish playwright, b. Starokonstantinov, Russia. He was the first important Yiddish playwright and a leading figure in Yiddish theater. In 1876 he combined some of his songs and poems to form his first plays, which were initially performed in Jassy, Romania. Russian authorities banned Yiddish theater in 1883, and Goldfaden and his followers founded Yiddish troupes in Paris, London, and New York City. Goldfaden settled in New York in 1903 and opened a drama school. Of his 400 plays the most famous is probably Shulamit (1880).
Back to ARTISTS Abraham Goldfaden Yiddish poet, playwright and composer, regarded as father of the Yiddish theater. Born in Staro Konstantinov, Ukraine in 1840, he received both a Jewish and secular education. In 1857 he entered the rabbinical seminary at Zhitomir. He studied there until 1857 and encouraged by his teachers (among others, E.Z. Zweifel, H.S. Slonimsky, A.B. Gottlober - leaders of the Enlightenment Movement), he began to write poems and plays in Hebrew and in Yiddish.
