Bella Kaufman (May 10, 1911 – July 25, 2014) was an American teacher and author, well known for writing the bestselling 1964 novel ''

Up the Down Staircase ''Up the Down Staircase'' is a novel written by Bel Kaufman, published in 1964, which spent 64 weeks on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list. In 1967 it was released as a film starring Sandy Dennis, Patrick Bedford, Ruth White, Jean Stapl ...

.''

Early life

Bella's father, Michael Kaufman (Mikhail Y. Koyfman) and her mother, Lala (Lyalya) Kaufman (née Rabinowitz) were both from Russia and married in 1909. Bella Kaufman was born in

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 ...

, Germany, in 1911, where her father was studying medicine. The family subsequently returned to Russia where her father completed his studies. Her father eventually became a physician, and her mother, the second-oldest daughter of famed

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 ...

writer

Sholem Aleichem ) , birth_date = , birth_place = Pereiaslav, Russian Empire , death_date = , death_place = New York City, U.S. , occupation = Writer , nationality = , period = , genre = Novels, sh ...

, later established herself as a writer under the name Lala Kaufman.Ellenson, Ruth Andrew (undated)
''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia''
Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved March 29, 2022. Bel was the older of two children. Her brother Sherwin, born nine years later, was a New York City physician. Bel's native language was

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, and she was raised in

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...

and

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 ...

(in present-day

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

). As a child, she published her first poem, "Spring", in an Odessa magazine. Life there was very difficult.

"Dead bodies were frozen in peculiar positions on the street," she recalled. "People ate bread made of the shells of peas because there was no flour."

Kaufman emigrated to the United States in 1922 at age 12 with her parents. She and her family lived in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.''Jewish Daily Forward'' (''Forverts''),Bilik, Dorothy (undated)
"Lyalya Kaufman, 1887-1964"
''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia'' nline version Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved July 26, 2014. and she also translated some of Bel's grandfather (Sholem Aleichem)'s works from Yiddish into Russian. Bel Kaufman first began learning English after her arrival in the United States but it was hard for her. Upon entering public school at age 12, she was placed in classes with first graders hindered because of language. She attended

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

in New York, graduating

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

in 1934 with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree. She credits a teacher who helped her to learn the English language in her elementary years and it was through her that she came to love English literature.Ellenson, Ruth Andrew (undated).

" ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia'' nline version Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved July 31, 2014. In 1936, Bel graduated with a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in literature from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Career

Kaufman began work as a teacher in various New York City

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

s, while also working part-time as a writer (including articles for ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' magazine) under the name Bel Kaufman, shortened because Esquire only accepted manuscripts from male authors. In 1964, she published ''

,'' a novel about an idealistic young honors college graduate who becomes an English teacher in a New York City high school and deals with the gritty realities of her colleagues and students. The book was based on Kaufman's own teaching experiences. Up the Down Staircase was originally a short story—only three and a half pages long — published in ''The Saturday Review'' on November 17, 1962 under the title ''From a Teacher's Wastebasket''. ''

'' became an enormous success, remaining on

The New York Times Best Seller list ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

for 64 weeks. In 1967, the book was turned into a film of the same name, starring

Sandy Dennis Sandra Dale Dennis (April 27, 1937 – March 2, 1992) was an American actress. She made her film debut in the drama ''Splendor in the Grass'' (1961). For her performance in the comedy-drama film ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1966), she rec ...

. The book was also turned into a play, appearing in over 100 Broadway, off-Broadway and road stage productions. In 1979, Kaufman published a second novel, ''Love, etc.'' which was not a critical success. She later wrote several short stories and continued as a teacher and lecturer in New York City. According to Pearson Education, Kaufman has written, "I do not ''like'' writing; in truth, I ''hate'' writing, and would rather do anything else. But the joy comes when, almost in spite of myself, I come close to what I want to say. A sentence or an insight leaps from the page." At 99 years old, Bel Kaufman was hired by her alma mater Hunter College in February 2011 to teach a course on Jewish humor. She turned 100 years old during her first semester of instruction. "I'm too busy to get old", noted Kaufman, who spent her days writing in her book-lined study on the

Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Personal life

Kaufman married Sydney Goldstine in 1936 upon her graduation from Columbia University. They had two children: Jonathan (a computer science professor) and Thea (a psychologist). The couple divorced in the 1960s. Sydney Goldstine died in 2000. Bel had one granddaughter,

Susan Goldstine Susan Goldstine is an American mathematician active in mathematics and fiber arts. She is a professor of mathematics at St. Mary's College of Maryland, and (for 2019–2022) the Steven Muller Distinguished Professor in the Sciences at St. Mary's C ...

, a mathematics professor. In the 1970s, Bel married, secondly, to Sidney J. Gluck, a photographer, Sinologist, and public interest advocate five years her junior. The couple remained married until her death. In 2010, Kaufman celebrated her 99th birthday at the annual memorial to her famous grandfather, the Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem. She was still writing at age 101, in July 2012.

Death

Bel Kaufman died at home in New York City on July 25, 2014, aged 103. She was survived by her husband, Sidney Gluck, a brother Sherwin Kaufman, her daughter Thea Goldstine, her son Jonathan Goldstine, and her granddaughter, Susan Goldstine.

Awards and honors

* Honorary chairman of the Yiddish Studies faculty at

* Board of Directors for the Sholem Aleichem Memorial Foundation *

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

award *

United Jewish Appeal The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was a Jewish philanthropic umbrella organization that existed from its creation in 1939 until it was folded into the United Jewish Communities, which was formed from the 1999 merger of United Jewish Appeal (UJA), Cou ...

award * Member of Hall of Fame, Hunter CollegeBel Kaufman IMDb profile
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Selected bibliography

*''

'' (1964) *''Love, etc.'' (1979)

References

External links

*
Sidney J. Gluck
(personal site)
Bel Kaufman papers
at the

Sophia Smith Collection The Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College is an internationally recognized repository of manuscripts, photographs, periodicals and other primary sources in women's history. General One of the largest recognized repositories of manuscripts, ar ...

, Smith College Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaufman, Bel 1911 births 2014 deaths American centenarians American women novelists Columbia University alumni Columbia University faculty Hunter College alumni Writers from Odesa Odesa Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Jewish American novelists 20th-century American novelists Writers from New York City 20th-century American women writers Sholem Aleichem Novelists from New York (state) Women centenarians Expatriates from the Russian Empire in Germany