Selig Schachnowitz (May 27, 1874 – January 23, 1952) was a Russian-born Swiss-Jewish writer and publicist.
Biography
Schachnowitz was born in 1874 in Russian-controlled Lithuania under the
Vilna Governorate
The Vilna Governorate (1795–1915; also known as Lithuania-Vilnius Governorate from 1801 until 1840; russian: Виленская губерния, ''Vilenskaya guberniya'', lt, Vilniaus gubernija, pl, gubernia wileńska) or Government of V ...
to Isaak Schachnowitz and Lea Riszmann. He had a brother, Pinchas, who was also a writer but remained in Russia. He was trained as a teacher in Lithuania and received additional education in
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
. From 1901 to 1908, he worked as a cantor at the synagogue in
Endingen, Switzerland
Endingen ( Swiss German: ) is a municipality in the district of Zurzach in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland.
In the 18th and 19th century, Endingen was one of few villages in which Swiss Jews were permitted to settle. Old buildings in Endin ...
. During a trip to
Baden, Switzerland
Baden (German for "baths"), sometimes unofficially, to distinguish it from other Badens, called Baden bei Zürich ("Baden near Zürich") or Baden im Aargau ("Baden in the Aargau"), is a town and a municipality in Switzerland. It is the main tow ...
, he presented his first work, ''Chayim Moshiach'', to a hotelier for examination, and had found it printed the next week in the Mainz Israelite.
In 1908, he started as an editor at ''
Der Israelit'' magazine in Frankfurt,
where he also worked as a teacher at
Solomon Breuer
Solomon (Shlomo Zalman) Breuer (27 June 1850 – 17 July 1926) was a Hungarian-born German rabbi, initially in Pápa, Hungary, and from the early 1890s in Frankfurt as a successor of his father-in-law Samson Raphael Hirsch.
Life and work
Solomon ...
's yeshiva.
He married Zessi Löb, and they had one daughter, Gertrud (1910–2007). After visiting
Eretz Yisrael
The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Israe ...
, he wrote ''Zwischen Ruinen und Aufbau in Erez-Israel'' in 1931. He emigrated to Switzerland in 1938 after ''Der Israelit'' closed due to sanctions by the Nazi Party.
Selected works
*
*
*
*
*
References
External links
Selig Schachnowitzat OpenLibrary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schachnowitz, Selig
1874 births
1952 deaths
20th-century Lithuanian Jews
20th-century Lithuanian writers
Russian emigrants to Switzerland
People from Jurbarkas
Jewish writers from the Russian Empire