Abraham Coralnik (October 16, 1883 – July 16, 1937) was a Ukrainian-born Jewish-American Yiddish writer, journalist, and newspaper editor.
Life
Coralnik was born on October 16, 1883, in
Uman
Uman ( uk, Умань, ; pl, Humań; yi, אומאַן) is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia. Located in the historical region of the eastern Podolia, the city rests on the banks of the Umanka River ...
,
Kiev Governorate
Kiev Governorate, r=Kievskaya guberniya; uk, Київська губернія, Kyivska huberniia (, ) was an administrative division of the Russian Empire from 1796 to 1919 and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919 to 1925. It wa ...
,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, the son of David and Gittel Coralnik. His brother Berl Coralnik was editor of the Jerusalem Bureau,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) is an international news agency and wire service, founded in 1917, serving Jewish community newspapers and media around the world as well as non-Jewish press, with about 70 syndication clients listed on its web ...
.
Coralnik initially attended the
University of Kyiv
Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...
, which had a severe Jewish quota at the time. He left shortly afterwards to study in universities abroad. He studied in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
, and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
. He wrote his doctoral thesis in 1908 on the philosophy of skepticism and received a
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
from Vienna that year. In 1903, he began writing in German as a correspondent for the Zionist newspaper ''
Die Welt
''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE.
''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...
''. He later edited German periodicals in
Czernowitz
Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the up ...
,
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, and
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
. He also wrote for German philosophical journals and major German newspapers as well as several German dramas. He wrote for several Russian newspapers, and in 1911 he became a correspondent for the St. Petersburg newspaper ''
Rech
Rech may refer to:
People
* Almine Rech, French art dealer
* Anthony Rech (born 1992), French ice hockey player
* Bianca Rech (born 1981), German football player
* Erich Rech, Iron Cross recipient
* Fernando Rech (born 1974), Brazilian football pl ...
''. In 1922, he published ''Das Russenbuch'' (The Russian Book), an anthology of Russian literature. From 1908 to 1913, some of his essays appeared in the
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
paper ''Ha-Atid'' (The Future). In 1914, he briefly lived in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
. In 1915, he emigrated to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and became a contributor for the Yiddish newspaper ''
Der Tog
''Der Tog'' ( en, The Day) was a Yiddish-language daily newspaper published in New York City from 1914 until 1971. The offices of ''Der Tog'' were located on the Lower East Side, at 185 and 187 East Broadway.
History
The newspaper's first issue ...
''. He only rarely wrote in Yiddish until then.
In 1917, following the
Russian Revolution
The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...
, he returned to Russia and became a member of the
Kerensky
Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early Novembe ...
government's Food Ministry. He was a member of the
Social Revolutionary Party
The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...
at the time. He lost his position in the government when the Communists took over, but he remained in Russia as a newspaperman. He edited a Petrograd weekly ''Europe'' and the publication ''Our Way in Russia''.
He worked for a while for several Russian newspapers, including ''Birzhevie Vedomosti'' (Stockbroker's Gazette) and the daily Russkaia Volya (Russian Will). A number of his articles appeared in
Yitzhak Gruenbaum's ''Petrograder Togblat'' (Petrograd Daily Newspaper). In 1918, he was living in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
. A year later, he left the Soviet Union and returned to New York. He again worked as a contributor for ''Der Tog'' for the rest of his life. He also wrote essays for ''Tsukunft'' (Future), Tealit (Theater and Literature), and ''
Fraye Arbeter Shtime
''Freie Arbeiter Stimme'' ( yi, פֿרייע אַרבעטער שטימע, romanized: ''Fraye arbeṭer shṭime'', ''lit.'' 'Free Voice of Labor') was a Yiddish-language anarchist newspaper published from New York City's Lower East Side betwe ...
'' (Free Voice of Labor).
Coralnik later became associate editor of ''Der Tog''. He contributed to ''
The New York Times Book Review
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
''. He was a director of
ORT and the
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
HIAS (founded as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) is a Jewish American nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees. It was originally established in 1881 to aid Jewish refugees. In 1975, the State Department ...
. In 1934, he went to Latin America to study for Jewish colonization possibilities there for the Hicem, the Jewish joint board of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and the
Jewish Colonization Association
The Jewish Colonisation Association (JCA or ICA, Yiddish ייִק"אַ), in America spelled Jewish Colonization Association, is an organisation created on September 11, 1891, by Baron Maurice de Hirsch. Its aim was to facilitate the mass emigratio ...
. He reported Guatemala was ready to settle thousands of German-Jewish refugees. He was president of the New York Jewish section of the
PEN Club
PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...
. He was also a member of the
Jewish National Workers Alliance.
In 1928, Coralnik collected his essays into five volumes. A further three volumes were published after his death. In May 1933, he founded the
American League for the Defense of Jewish Rights in response to the rise of Nazism. He also organized the World Jewish Economic Conference in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
with
Samuel Untermyer
Samuel J. Untermyer (March 6, 1858 – March 16, 1940) was a prominent American lawyer and civic leader. He is also remembered for bequeathing his Yonkers, New York estate, now known as Untermyer Park, to the people of New York State.
Life
S ...
to coordinate an international anti-Nazi boycott, which met with little success. He was president of the Union of Ukrainian Jews in America and the Jewish Writers' Club. He was also a member of the administrative committee of the
American Jewish Congress
The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress or AJC) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts.
History
The AJCongress was ...
.
Coralnik was married to Sara Gorodetski, an organic chemist and a librarian for the American Jewish Congress. They had two daughters, Beatrice and Zoe.
Coralnik died in
Mount Kisco
Mount Kisco is a village and town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The town of Mount Kisco is coterminous with the village. The population was 10,959 at the 2020 United States census over 10,877 at the 2010 census.
It serves as a ...
Hospital from a heart ailment on July 16, 1937. Over 2,500 people attended his funeral.
Samuel Margoshes Samuel Margoshes (October 21, 1887 – August 23, 1968) was a Galician-born Jewish-American Yiddish journalist, newspaper editor, and Zionist. Life
Margoshes was born on October 21, 1887 in the village of Józefów, near Tarnów, Galicia. He was ...
presided over the ceremony and delivered the eulogy. He was buried in the Jewish National Workers Alliance plot in
Montefiore Cemetery
Montefiore Cemetery, also known as Old Montefiore Cemetery, is a Jewish cemetery in Springfield Gardens, Queens, New York, established in 1908. The cemetery is called by several names, including Old Montefiore, Springfield, or less commonly, just ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coralnik, Abraham
1883 births
1937 deaths
People from Uman
People from Umansky Uyezd
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Ukrainian Jews
Jews from the Russian Empire
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni
University of Florence alumni
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
University of Bonn alumni
University of Vienna alumni
Editors of New York City newspapers
20th-century American newspaper editors
American newspaper reporters and correspondents
Jewish American journalists
Yiddish-language journalists
Socialist Revolutionary Party politicians
American Zionists
Burials in New York (state)