Sarah Gorby (russian: Сара Горби or ''Sara Gorbi'' or ''Gorbach'', yi, שׂרה גאָרבי ''Sarah Gorbi''; 1900, in Chisinau,

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate (, ) was a part of the Russian Empire from 1812 to 1917. Initially known as Bessarabia Oblast (Бессарабская область, ''Bessarabskaya oblast'') as well as, following 1871, a governorate, it included ...

– 1980, in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a French singer (

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

) known for her performance of Jewish songs, Russian and Romany romances, and the work of French and Soviet composers. Her recording career spanned the 1940s to the 1970s.

Early life

Sarah Gorby was born in 1900 in Kishinev ( Chisinau), then part of Tsarist Russia, now capital of

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

. Her parents, Zeylik Khaimovich Gorbach (originally from Stara Ushytsia) and his wife Beyla Kipelman had emigrated to Kishinev from Poland. During her childhood, the Gorby house was largely Russian-speaking. Gorby left Kishinev at age 17 to study music in

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...

, Romania, where she married Joseph Goldstein, a publisher who spoke both Romanian and Yiddish. Due to this cosmopolitan background, in her life she spoke many languages fluently. Her main language was Russian, her second language Yiddish, and she also spoke French, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and English well. She moved to Rome and then to Paris in the 1920s, but returned to Iași every summer until the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to visit her husband. She also toured

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

regularly during the 1930s. For a time in the 1930s she performed with her husband's last name (Sarah Goldstein) before switching to the stage name Sarah Gorby.

Music career

In 1940, Gorby and her husband emigrated to

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

and Gorby continued on to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Around 1949, Gorby returned to Paris; upon her husband's death in Haiti in the 1950 she settled permanently in Paris. After settling in Paris she recorded quite a lot under the label Eledisc, which was then releasing many

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 ...

singers. She also continued to tour regularly and spent months of the year away from France in places such as

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. A noteworthy feature of her music was that she continued to sing in her native Bessarabian Yiddish dialect for much of her career.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorby, Sarah 1900 births 1980 deaths Musicians from Chișinău People from Kishinyovsky Uyezd Moldovan Jews Romanian emigrants to France Yiddish-language singers 20th-century Romanian women singers 20th-century Romanian singers Jewish women singers