Mani Leib
Encyclopedia
Mani Leib Yiddish poet, born in Nizhyn, (Chernigov district, Ukraine). He was one of eight children; his father sold furs, hides, and animals at regional fairs. His mother supported the family selling hens, geese and eggs. In A mayse vegn zikh" (A Story About Myself), he describes her as a fount of spontaneous rhymes, poems, and epigrams.
At the age of 11 Leyb left school to be apprenticed to a bootmaker; as a participant in "revolutionary activities", he was arrested twice while still in his teens.
He emigrated to the United States at the age of 22 and settled in New York in 1906. He published his poems in the Yiddish newspapers like the Forverts. Writing in the cadences of ordinary speech, he formed a group of poets called Di Yunge" (the Young). According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Leib's "sound poems drew renewed attention to the Yiddish language through their skillful use of alliteration and repetition." These poems proved controversial, and were parodied by Moyshe-Leyb Halpern
in 1910; the two, it is argued, became rivals.
Mani Leib also wrote about children. His classic, Yingl Tsingl Khvat, was illustrated by the Russian avant-garde master, El Lissitzky
.
He worked throughout his life as a shoe and boot-maker, and he references his profession in the poem "I Am." He contracted Tuberculosis
and lived in a sanatorium for two years. He never lost his belief in "the ability of poetry to transform the mundane into the divine."
His reputation continued to grow after his death, when his collected work was published: Lider un Baladn (Songs and Ballads) in 1955 and Sonetn (Sonnets) in 1961. Lider un baladn was reprinted in 1963 with parallel Hebrew translations by Shimshon Meltzer, and an introduction by Itzik Manger
. The second volume of Lider un Baladn contains a brief autobiography.
At the age of 11 Leyb left school to be apprenticed to a bootmaker; as a participant in "revolutionary activities", he was arrested twice while still in his teens.
He emigrated to the United States at the age of 22 and settled in New York in 1906. He published his poems in the Yiddish newspapers like the Forverts. Writing in the cadences of ordinary speech, he formed a group of poets called Di Yunge" (the Young). According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Leib's "sound poems drew renewed attention to the Yiddish language through their skillful use of alliteration and repetition." These poems proved controversial, and were parodied by Moyshe-Leyb Halpern
Moyshe-Leyb Halpern
Moyshe-Leyb Halpern was a Yiddish-language modernist poet. He was born and raised in a traditional Jewish household in Zlotshev, Galicia and brought to Vienna at the age of 12 in 1898 to study commercial art. He then began writing modernist poetry in German...
in 1910; the two, it is argued, became rivals.
Mani Leib also wrote about children. His classic, Yingl Tsingl Khvat, was illustrated by the Russian avant-garde master, El Lissitzky
El Lissitzky
, better known as El Lissitzky , was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, typographer, polemicist and architect. He was an important figure of the Russian avant garde, helping develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich, and designing numerous exhibition displays and propaganda works...
.
He worked throughout his life as a shoe and boot-maker, and he references his profession in the poem "I Am." He contracted Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and lived in a sanatorium for two years. He never lost his belief in "the ability of poetry to transform the mundane into the divine."
His reputation continued to grow after his death, when his collected work was published: Lider un Baladn (Songs and Ballads) in 1955 and Sonetn (Sonnets) in 1961. Lider un baladn was reprinted in 1963 with parallel Hebrew translations by Shimshon Meltzer, and an introduction by Itzik Manger
Itzik Manger
Itzik Manger was a prominent Yiddish poet and playwright, a self-proclaimed folk bard, visionary, and ‘master tailor’ of the written word...
. The second volume of Lider un Baladn contains a brief autobiography.