Berta Singerman Begun ( be, Берта Сінгерман; 9 September 1901 – 10 December 1998), better known as Berta Singerman, was a

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

ian- Argentine singer and actress.

Biography

Singerman was born in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, then part of the

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. ...

into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. She emigrated to Argentina with her parents when she was a little girl. From a young age, she performed dramatic works with her siblings and neighbours that she was responsible for directing. When she was eight she joined a company that made melodramas 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 ve ...

, and when she was ten years old she joined a cast that performed works of

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

. At age 15, Singerman married Rubén Enrique Stolek, who became her manager and set her on a career of literary declamation. Her connections with highly regarded literary figures, including poet Alfonsina Storni and writer Horacio Quiroga, helped propel this career into international fame, and she was befriended by numerous writers and artists, including Pablo Neruda,

Juan Ramón Jiménez Juan Ramón Jiménez Mantecón (; 23 December 1881 – 29 May 1958) was a Spanish poet, a prolific writer who received the 1956 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which in the Spanish language constitutes an example of high ...

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Li ...

and

Alejo Carpentier Alejo Carpentier y Valmont (, ; December 26, 1904 – April 24, 1980) was a Cuban novelist, essayist, and musicologist who greatly influenced Latin American literature during its famous "boom" period. Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, of French an ...

. By the 1930s, Singerman was performing throughout the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking world, including Spain, Mexico and Brazil, at times attracting huge crowds. Her career lasted into the 1980s.Deutsch, Sandra McGee (2010).
Crossing Borders, Claiming a Nation: A History of Argentine Jewish Women, 1880-1955
'. Durham, NC: Duke Univ. Press. . pp. 96-98.

Selected filmography

*''

Nothing More Than a Woman ''Nothing More Than a Woman'' (Spanish: ''Nada más que una mujer'') is a 1934 American drama film directed by Harry Lachman and starring Berta Singerman, Alfredo del Diestro and Juan Torena. It is the Spanish-language version of Fox's ''Pursued' ...

'' (1934)

References

External links

* 1901 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Argentine women singers Belarusian Jews Jewish Argentine actresses Yiddish-speaking people Musicians from Minsk Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Argentina {{Argentina-actor-stub