Leon Kobrin
Encyclopedia
Leon Kobrin was a playwright in Yiddish theater, writer of short stories
and novel
s, and a translator. As a playwright he is generally seen as a disciple of Jacob Gordin, but his mature work was more character-driven, more open and realistic in its presentation of human sexual desire, and less polemical than Gordin's. Many of his plays were "ghetto dramas" dealing with issues of tradition and assimilation and with generational issues between Jewish immigrants to America
and the first generation of American-born Jews.
, now in Belarus
, he wrote in Russian
before he emigrated to the United States in 1892; only in America did he discover that there was such a thing as Yiddish
literature and theater. In the U.S. he first worked menial jobs in Philadelphia and in rural Pennsylvania
, before settling in New York City
. He became a journalist, then a writer of short stories, and finally gained fame as a playwright.
Gordin collaborated with Kobrin on completing Minna (1899) as a play; the title of Kobrin's Natur, Mensh un Khaye (Nature, Man and Beast, 1900) was a conscious echo of Gordin's Got, Mensch un Teivel (God, Man, and the Devil, 1893). Liptzin singles out his tragedy Yankel Boila (1908, based on his own 1898 story) as the "apex" of his work, and describes its title character as "a kindhearted but dull-witted Jewish youth… embroiled in a complex moral and emotional dilemma to which he could find no solution short of suicide". [Liptzin, 1972, 81]
His thirty or so plays spanned both "golden ages" of Yiddish theater in America. He started as a playwright at the time when Yiddish theater was bringing to America challenging modern classics such as the works of Henrik Ibsen
and August Strindberg
, and Leo Tolstoy
that, at that time, had not been presented on the English-language American stage, and continued into the era of the Yiddish Art Theater, when Yiddish theater rivalled any in the world in defining 20th-century theatrical practice.
Kobrin continued, throughout his life, to contribute to Yiddish-language newspapers. He also worked extensively as a translator of modern classics from French
and Russian into Yiddish. Among the authors whose work he translated were Guy de Maupassant
, Emile Zola
, Maxim Gorky
, Leo Tolstoy
, Fyodor Dostoevsky
, and Anton Chekhov
. His wife, Pauline, collaborated on some of these translations.
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
and novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s, and a translator. As a playwright he is generally seen as a disciple of Jacob Gordin, but his mature work was more character-driven, more open and realistic in its presentation of human sexual desire, and less polemical than Gordin's. Many of his plays were "ghetto dramas" dealing with issues of tradition and assimilation and with generational issues between Jewish immigrants to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the first generation of American-born Jews.
Life and works
Born in Vitsebsk, then part of Imperial Russia, culturally considered at that time part of LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, now in Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, he wrote in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
before he emigrated to the United States in 1892; only in America did he discover that there was such a thing as Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
literature and theater. In the U.S. he first worked menial jobs in Philadelphia and in rural Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, before settling in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He became a journalist, then a writer of short stories, and finally gained fame as a playwright.
Gordin collaborated with Kobrin on completing Minna (1899) as a play; the title of Kobrin's Natur, Mensh un Khaye (Nature, Man and Beast, 1900) was a conscious echo of Gordin's Got, Mensch un Teivel (God, Man, and the Devil, 1893). Liptzin singles out his tragedy Yankel Boila (1908, based on his own 1898 story) as the "apex" of his work, and describes its title character as "a kindhearted but dull-witted Jewish youth… embroiled in a complex moral and emotional dilemma to which he could find no solution short of suicide". [Liptzin, 1972, 81]
His thirty or so plays spanned both "golden ages" of Yiddish theater in America. He started as a playwright at the time when Yiddish theater was bringing to America challenging modern classics such as the works of Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
and August Strindberg
August Strindberg
Johan August Strindberg was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg's career spanned four decades, during which time he wrote over 60 plays and more than 30 works of fiction, autobiography,...
, and Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
that, at that time, had not been presented on the English-language American stage, and continued into the era of the Yiddish Art Theater, when Yiddish theater rivalled any in the world in defining 20th-century theatrical practice.
Kobrin continued, throughout his life, to contribute to Yiddish-language newspapers. He also worked extensively as a translator of modern classics from French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and Russian into Yiddish. Among the authors whose work he translated were Guy de Maupassant
Guy de Maupassant
Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents....
, Emile Zola
Émile Zola
Émile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
, Maxim Gorky
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
, Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy
Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevsky was a Russian writer of novels, short stories and essays. He is best known for his novels Crime and Punishment, The Idiot and The Brothers Karamazov....
, and Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
. His wife, Pauline, collaborated on some of these translations.
Plays
- Minna or, The Ruined Family from Downtown (1899)
- Natur, Mensh un Khaye (Nature, Man and Beast, 1900)
- Ghetto Dramas (1904)
- The East Side Ghetto
- Sonia from East Broadway
- Yankel Boila oder Der Dorfs-Yung (1908, translated as The Village Youth or The Child of Nature)
- The Immigrants (1910)
- Die Next-Door'ike (The Lady Next Door, 1915)
- Rise of Orre (1917)
- The Tenement House (1917)
- Call of Life (1920)
- The Awakening (1920)
- Wild Ways (1926)
- Riverside Drive (1933)
- Ruined Worlds (1934)
- The Last Struggle (1934)
- The Golden Stream (1936)
- The Red Lola (1937)
Other works
- "A Moerder aus Liebe" ("The Love Crime", 1894)
- "Yankel Boila or, The Village Youth" (story, 1898)
- Yankel Boila and Other Tales (collection, 1898)
- A Lithuanian Village (novel, English translation published 1920)
- My Fifty Years in America (memoir, serialized in the Morning Freiheit mid-1940s)
External links
- Leon Kobrin on the site of the FolksbieneFolksbieneThe National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene is a professional theater company in New York City which produces both Yiddish plays and plays translated into Yiddish, in a theater equipped with simultaneous superscript translation into English...
: biographical notes by Nahma Sandrow, New York Times obituary, and an ad (in Yiddish) for a 1915 play.