Zypora Spaisman
Encyclopedia
Zypora Spaisman was a Polish-American actress and Yiddish theatre
empresaria. She was married to Joseph Spaisman until his death.
as a midwife for many years, delivering hundreds of children, including during World War II
when she witnessed horrendous suffering. After emigrating to the United States
in 1954, she became an actress.
Yiddish Theatre in NYC and, along with Morris Adler, kept it alive for 42 years. Following a dispute with the Folksbiene's new management in 1998, she founded the Yiddish Public Theatre.
The Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre, originally located on the Lower East Side
of Manhattan in what was then known as the Forward Building
and later ensconced across from the Central Synagogue
in its Community House building (both locations during Spaisman's tenure), is the longest-running Yiddish theatre company in the world. Founded in 1915 as an amateur group dedicated to producing non-commercial Yiddish theater and world drama in Yiddish translation, it turned professional in later decades. It was sustained by Morris Adler, who joined the company in 1934, and Spaisman, who joined twenty years later. During Spaisman and Adler's tenure, the Folksbiene remained a bastion for Yiddish literary culture.
In 1998, Ms. Spaisman's position with the company was taken over by Zalmen Mlotek and Eleanor Reissa, who were then named co-artistic directors. They invited Spaisman to stay on as a "consultant" but she opted to start her own company, the Yiddish Public Theater, which endured for one year before its demise.
Zypora Spaisman assayed the role of Sheva Haddas in Paul Mazursky
's film Enemies, a Love Story
(1989), an adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer
's novel of the same name
.
A documentary by Dan Katzir about Spaisman and her Yiddish Public Theater, Yiddish Theater: A Love Story, was released to much acclaim in 2006.
In the summers, Zypora Spaisman worked as a camp nurse at Camp Boiberik, in Rhinebeck, NY. The camp was an offshoot of The Sholem Aleichem Folk Institute.
-based son (and his family) after her sudden death from cerebral trauma
(the cause of which has never been explained) on May 18, 2002, aged 86.
Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; naturalist drama; expressionist and...
empresaria. She was married to Joseph Spaisman until his death.
Life in Poland
Born Zypora Tannenbaum, she worked in her native PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
as a midwife for many years, delivering hundreds of children, including during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when she witnessed horrendous suffering. After emigrating to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1954, she became an actress.
Career in the United States
Spaisman, during her career as an actress, was long associated with the FolksbieneFolksbiene
The 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...
Yiddish Theatre in NYC and, along with Morris Adler, kept it alive for 42 years. Following a dispute with the Folksbiene's new management in 1998, she founded the Yiddish Public Theatre.
The Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre, originally located on the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of Manhattan in what was then known as the Forward Building
The Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
and later ensconced across from the Central Synagogue
Central Synagogue
The Central Synagogue is located at 652 Lexington Avenue on the corner of 55th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York. Built in 1872 in the Moorish Revival style as a copy of Budapest's Dohány Street Synagogue, it pays homage to the Jewish existence in Moorish Spain...
in its Community House building (both locations during Spaisman's tenure), is the longest-running Yiddish theatre company in the world. Founded in 1915 as an amateur group dedicated to producing non-commercial Yiddish theater and world drama in Yiddish translation, it turned professional in later decades. It was sustained by Morris Adler, who joined the company in 1934, and Spaisman, who joined twenty years later. During Spaisman and Adler's tenure, the Folksbiene remained a bastion for Yiddish literary culture.
In 1998, Ms. Spaisman's position with the company was taken over by Zalmen Mlotek and Eleanor Reissa, who were then named co-artistic directors. They invited Spaisman to stay on as a "consultant" but she opted to start her own company, the Yiddish Public Theater, which endured for one year before its demise.
Zypora Spaisman assayed the role of Sheva Haddas in Paul Mazursky
Paul Mazursky
Paul Mazursky is an American film director, screenwriter and actor.-Personal life:He was born Irwin Mazursky in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jean , a piano player for dance classes, and David Mazursky, a laborer. Mazursky was born to a Jewish family; his grandfather was an immigrant from...
's film Enemies, a Love Story
Enemies, a Love Story (film)
Enemies, a Love Story is a 1989 film directed by Paul Mazursky, based on the novel Enemies, a Love Story by Isaac Bashevis Singer.-Plot:...
(1989), an adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer – July 24, 1991) was a Polish Jewish American author noted for his short stories. He was one of the leading figures in the Yiddish literary movement, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978...
's novel of the same name
Enemies, a Love Story
Enemies, a Love Story is a novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer first published serially in the Jewish Daily Forward in 1966. The English translation was published in 1972.-Plot summary:...
.
A documentary by Dan Katzir about Spaisman and her Yiddish Public Theater, Yiddish Theater: A Love Story, was released to much acclaim in 2006.
In the summers, Zypora Spaisman worked as a camp nurse at Camp Boiberik, in Rhinebeck, NY. The camp was an offshoot of The Sholem Aleichem Folk Institute.
Death
Spaisman was a widow at the time of her death. She left behind a Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
-based son (and his family) after her sudden death from cerebral trauma
Physical trauma
Trauma refers to "a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident." It can also be described as "a physical wound or injury, such as a fracture or blow." Major trauma can result in secondary complications such as circulatory shock, respiratory failure and death...
(the cause of which has never been explained) on May 18, 2002, aged 86.