Samuel Gordon (10 September 1871 – 10 January 1927) was an English novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His fiction largely focused on the lives of contemporary
English and
Russian Jews.
Biography
Samuel Gordon was born in
Buk
Buk or BUK may refer to:
Places Czech Republic
* Buk (Prachatice District), a municipality and village in the South Bohemian Region
* Buk (Přerov District), a municipality and village in the Olomouc Region
*Buk, a village and part of Jindřichů ...
,
Province of Posen
The Province of Posen (german: Provinz Posen, pl, Prowincja Poznańska) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920. Posen was established in 1848 following the Greater Poland Uprising as a successor to the Grand Duchy of Posen, w ...
to Jewish parents Bertha (née Pulver) and Rev.
Abraham Elias Gordon. He went to England with his parents in 1883, where his father became
cantor of the
Great Synagogue of London. Gordon was educated at the City of London School, and read
Classics
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
at Queens' College, Cambridge, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in 1893. He was appointed secretary of the Great Synagogue the following year.
Gordon published several novels and volumes of short stories, mainly dealing with Jewish life and character, among them ''A Handful of Exotics'' (1897), ''Daughters of Shem'' (1898), ''Lesser Destinies'' (1899), ''Strangers at the Gate'' (1902), ''God's Remnants'' (1916), and the
historical romance ''The Lost Kingdom; or, the Passing of the Khazars'' (1926). ''In Years of Tradition'' (1897) and ''The New Galatea'' (1901) were his chief works outside Jewish lines. Gordon's most accomplished work was ''Sons of the Covenant: A Tale of London Jewry'' (1900), which portrays the lives of two newly-arrived Jewish immigrants to London's
East End
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
.
He travelled widely in Europe and lived briefly in the United States. As a journalist, Gordon covered the
Fourth Zionist Congress in London for ''The Manchester Guardian'' in 1900. He later worked in the Censor's Office during the World War I.
Gordon died on 10 January 1927 at the age of 55. A theatrical adaptation of ''Daughters of Shem'' was performed at the
New Scala shortly after his death.
Bibliography
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Samuel
1871 births
1927 deaths
19th-century English Jews
20th-century British Jews
19th-century British short story writers
20th-century English short story writers
20th-century English dramatists and playwrights
19th-century English novelists
20th-century English novelists
19th-century Prussian people
Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge
Jewish English writers
English male dramatists and playwrights
English male novelists
English male short story writers
Emigrants from the German Empire to the United Kingdom
Jewish dramatists and playwrights
Jewish novelists
Writers from the Province of Posen
Writers from London