A C Jacobs (Arthur C. Jacobs) was a Scottish poet, born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1937, he died in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

in 1994. Jacobs was Jewish, wrote in

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and was a gifted translator of

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. Jacobs grew up in a traditional Jewish family who were immigrants from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. He studied at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

with Philip Hobsbaum and his early work was published in the Leeds magazine ''Stand'' by Jon Silkin. Jacobs' poetry is described as exploring questions of nationality and language. In his obituary, his editor Anthony Rudolf said: "Many of Jacobs's poems celebrate Jewish life or honour Jewish death, sometimes with a tartan tinge" and in a collection of poems highlighted "his complex cultural identity as a Jew in Scotland, as a Scot in England, and as a diaspora Jew in Israel, Italy, Spain and the UK". He variously used his un-Jewish name Arthur, his adopted Hebrew name, Chaim, signing himself as Arthur C. and A. C. Jacobs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, A C Scottish poets Scottish Jewish writers Scottish Jews 1937 births 1994 deaths