Zalman Shneour (born Shneur Zalkind; 1887 – 20 February 1959) was a prolific

Yiddish 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 ve ...

and

Hebrew 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 ...

poet and writer. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Biography

Shneour was born in

Shklov Shklow ( be, Шклоў, ; Škłoŭ; russian: link=no, Шклов, ''Shklov''; yi, שקלאָוו, ''Shklov'', lt, Šklovas, pl, Szkłów) is a town in Mogilev Region, Belarus, located north of Mogilev on the Dnieper river. It has a railway ...

(Škłoŭ) in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

(then part of 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. ...

) in 1887. His parents were Isaac Zalkind and Feiga Sussman. At age 13, he left for Odessa, the center of literature and Zionism during this time. Shneour moved to

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in 1902, and was hired by a successful publishing house. He then moved to

Vilnius 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 urb ...

in 1904, where he began to publish his first book and a collection of stories. These poems were extremely successful, and many editions were published. In 1907, Shneour moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

to study Natural Sciences, Philosophy, and Literature, at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. He traveled throughout Europe from 1908 to 1913, and even visited North Africa. At the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Shneour was in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. During the years of the war, he worked in a hospital and studied at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

. Shneour returned to Paris in 1923. He stayed there until 1940, when Hitler's troops invaded France. Shneour then fled to Spain, and from there he went to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1941. He died in 1959 in New York. He is remembered among lovers of Yiddish songs for his expression of longing and lust, “Tra-la-la-la,” known as Margaritkelekh, Daisies. Artists such as

Chava Alberstein Chava Alberstein ( he, חוה אלברשטיין, born 8 December 1946 in Poland) is an Israeli musician, lyricist, composer, and musical arranger. Biography Born Ewa Alberstein in Szczecin, Poland, her name was Hebraized to Chava when she ...

have recorded it. Shneour had two children: the American neurochemist and biophysicist Elie A. Shneour, and Renée Rebecca, who became the Spanish dancer Laura Toledo.

Translations into English

* ''Song of the Dnieper'', translated by

Joseph Leftwich Joseph Leftwich (Zutphen September 28 1892 – Islington February 28 1983), born Joseph Lefkowitz, was a British critic and translator into English of Yiddish literature.Schwartz, Richard H. (2001). ''Judaism and Vegetarianism''. p. 175. Lantern ...

. Roy Publishers: New York, 1945. * ''Restless spirit: Selected Writings of Zalman Shneour'', translated by Moshe Spiegel. Thomas Yoseloff: New York, 1963. * ''A Death: Notes of a Suicide'', translated by Daniel Kennedy. Wakefield Press: Cambridge, 2019. .

Awards

* In 1951, Shneour was awarded the

Bialik Prize The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik Hayim Nahman Bialik ...

for Literature. * In 1955, he was awarded the Israel Prize for literature.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shneour, Zalman Israeli poets Israel Prize in literature recipients Hebrew-language poets Yiddish-language poets Jews from the Russian Empire University of Paris alumni Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France French emigrants to the United States American emigrants to Israel People from Shklow 1887 births 1959 deaths 20th-century poets

Biography

Translations into English

Awards

See also

References