Joel Baer Falkovich ( yi, יואל בעריש פאַלקאָװיטש, died in the 1870s) was an early Yiddish Theatre dramatist, literary figure, and supporter of the Haskalah from 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. ...

Biography

Falkovich was born in Dubno, Volhynian Governorate, Russian Empire during the early nineteenth century, although the exact date is uncertain. During his youth he received a full Jewish education and also learned multiple European languages. He soon became an early proponent of the Haskalah (Jewish enlightenment) in Volhynia and pseudonymously published

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

writings. He was said to have a strong command of Hebrew literature and to be an advocate of using it to write about modern, scientific concepts. At some point he left Dubno and settled in

Odessa 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 administrativ ...

. He is known to have authored a handful of four-act

Yiddish language 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 ...

plays including , (printed in Odessa in 1866) and , (printed in

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, a ...

in 1868, and possibly adapted from another work). These were published at a time when secular Yiddish literary works were in demand for the first time, and before the Yiddish theatre was fully established as a genre by Avraham Goldfaden. He also translated '' Philotas'' by

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the developmen ...

into Hebrew, titling it and publishing it in Odessa in 1868. His letters to Abraham Firkovich were also noted. At some point he converted to Christianity, although he did not turn against the Jewish population, but appeared at trials to defend them against charges of

Blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...

and wrote essays in defense of them. Although his exact date of death is unknown,

Zalman Reisen Zalman Reisen ( yi, זלמן רײזען; 6 October 1887 – 1940), sometimes spelled Zalman Reyzen, was a lexicographer and literary historian of Yiddish literature. Early life Reisen was born in Koydenev (now known as Dzyarzhynsk) in Minsk Go ...

speculated that he died in the 1870s.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falkovich, Joel Dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire Male writers from the Russian Empire 19th-century people from the Russian Empire Yiddish-language writers Jews from the Russian Empire Hebrew-language writers Ukrainian Jews 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire 1870s deaths Converts to Christianity from Judaism Year of death uncertain Year of birth unknown 19th-century births People from Dubno People of the Haskalah