David Edelstadt (

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 ...

: דוד עדעלשטאַט; May 9, 1866, Kaluga,

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 ...

– 17 October 1892,

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

) was 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 ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

in the

language. Edelstadt immigrated to Cincinnati and worked as a buttonhole maker, while publishing Yiddish labor poems in ''Varhayt'' and ''Der Morgenshtern''. He was editor of the Yiddish anarchist newspaper

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 ...

in 1891 but left the post after contracting

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, moving west to seek a cure. He continued to send the newspaper his poems until his death a year later.

Biography

Edelstadt was born on May 9, 1866 in Kaluga. His father - Moishe (Moses) Edelstadt - was a low ranking

policeman A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

, and later an office worker. In his youth, Edelstadt studied with a Lithuanian

melamed Melamed, ''Melammed'' ( he, מלמד, Teacher) in Biblical times denoted a religious teacher or instructor in general (e.g., in Psalm 119:99 and Proverbs 5:13), but which in the Talmudic period was applied especially to a teacher of children, and ...

for a short time. In 1873-1876, he studied

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 ...

with a private teacher. At the age of 9, Edelstadt began to write poetry, with some of these poems later being published in the Kaluga newspaper Gubernskie Vedomosti. In 1880 David moved to Kiev, to live with his older brothers. Here he met revolutionary populists and began adopting their ideology into his writings. Following the Kiev pogrom in 1881, Edelstadt ended up in a hospital for pogromized Jews in Pechersk. Here Edelstadt met Dr. M. E. Mandelstam, who suggested that David enter university. Following his hospitalization, David and his brother joined a cell of the Am-Olam organization, leaving Russia for a Jewish agricultural commune in the USA. In May 1882, David arrived in New York via

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and later settled in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, working as a factory worker. While in the United States, Edelstadt continued to write poetry in Russian, eventually learning and writing in English as well. While in Ohio, Edelstadt became interested in anarchism. Edelstadt participated in the Pioneers of Freedom, the first Jewish anarchist group in New York which was formed following the arrest of the

Haymarket martyrs The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, the Haymarket riot, the Haymarket Square riot, or the Haymarket Incident, was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in ...

. In January 1889, Edelstadt's first poem written in America appeared in the Russian Social Democratic newspaper ''Znamya'' in New York. In search of work, Edelstadt moved to

Orange, New Jersey The City of Orange is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 30,134, reflecting a decline of 2,734 (−8.3%) from the 32,868 counted in 2000. Orange was original ...

then returned to New York. Here he began to write poetry in

, which was published in the anarchist Jewish newspaper ''Warhait''. His writings have also been published in the London magazine ''Arbeiter Friend'' and in the New York socialist newspaper "''Morgenstern''". In 1891, David contracted tuberculosis, and he was forced to leave New York for treatment in the city of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, where he died on October 17, 1892.

References

External links

Poems by David Edelstadt

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edelstadt, David 1866 births 1892 deaths People from Kaluga People from Kaluzhsky Uyezd Russian Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American people of Russian-Jewish descent American anarchists American male journalists American male non-fiction writers American male poets American newspaper editors American opinion journalists American poets in Yiddish Anarchist writers Editors of Fraye Arbeter Shtime Jewish American poets Jewish anarchists Jewish Russian writers Yiddish-language poets Yiddish-language satirists 19th-century American journalists 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American non-fiction writers 19th-century American poets

Biography

See also

References

Further reading

External links