Isaac ben Mordechai Rabinowitz (; 13 October 1846 – 9 March 1900), also known by the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

Ish Kovno () was a Russian-born

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 ...

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 ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

Biography

Born in

Kovno Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

to Rabbi Mordechai ben Yosef, Isaac Rabinowitz began to compose Hebrew poetry at an early age. He took instruction in Hebrew grammar from

Abraham Mapu Abraham Mapu (1808 in Vilijampolė, Kaunas1867 in Königsberg, Prussia) was a Lithuanian novelist. He wrote in Hebrew as part of the Haskalah (enlightenment) movement. His novels, with their lively plots encompassing heroism, adventure and romanti ...

when fourteen, and entered the Vilna Rabbinical School at the age of eighteen. Rabinowitz settled in Telshi after marrying in 1867, where he befriended Mordecai Nathansohn and

Judah Leib Gordon Judah Leib (Ben Asher) Gordon, also known as Leon Gordon, (December 7, 1830, Vilnius, Lithuania – September 16, 1892, St. Petersburg, Russia) (Hebrew: יהודה לייב גורדון) was among the most important Hebrew poets of the Jewish En ...

and wrote occasionally for Hebrew periodicals. He moved to Vilkomir in 1889, and joined his children in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1891. Rabinowitz published most of his Hebrew poetry in

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...

in 1891 in a book called ''Zemirot Yisrael''. He died in New York at the age of 54 in 1900. Poet Israel Fine published a poem in memory of Rabinowitz in 1907, entitled "Shir Berakhah".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabinowitz, Isaac 1846 births 1900 deaths Writers from Kaunas People from Kovensky Uyezd Lithuanian Jews Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Writers from the Russian Empire Hebrew-language poets Translators to Yiddish Vilna Rabbinical School alumni 19th-century translators