- Joseph Opatoshu
Joseph Opatoshu (יוסף אָפאַטאָשו in Yiddish),(1886–1954) was a Polish-born Yiddish
novel ist andshort story writer.Biography
Opatoshu was born in 1886 as Yosef Meir Opatowski to a Hasidic family, in the Polish town
Mława .His father was a
Jew ish "Maskil", who sent Yosef to Russian and Polish schools. At the age of 19 he went to studyengineering inNancy , France. However, privation sent him to theUSA in 1907, where he settled in New York City, where his name became Joseph Opatovsky, and he later took the professional name of Joseph Opatoshu.In New York he dedicated himself to writing, beginning with short stories that he published for several years in magazines and newspapers. He earned his initial fame as a writer from the
trilogy In Polish woods (אין פוילישע וועלדער). Excerpts from this (as "In Polish Forests") had previously been published in "The Pagan", a magazine produced by the bookshop owner, linguist, and teacher Joseph Kling, in 1917. It was published in 1921 in Yiddish, and was translated to several languages, among them a 1938 English translation. It is a broadhistorical novel , describing the decline of Hasidism.In 1928 he published a 14-volume collection of his works.
Opatoshu's hundreds of works include descriptions of his many travels to various Jewish communities around the world. In particular, he is well known for his rejection of the pacific tenor of his contemporary "classical" Yiddish writers. This can be found, for example, in his description of the Jewish criminal underworld in
Eastern Europe , in his bookRomance of a Horse Thief . In this approach Opatoshu was influenced byMicha Josef Berdyczewski . His works were translated to several languages, including English and Hebrew.Joseph Opatoshu died on
Yom Kippur of 1954 (The Jewish year ה'תשט"ו), and is buried in the old Arbeter Ring (אַרבעטער-רינג – The Workmen's Circle) cemetery in New York City, alongsideSholem Aleichem , Yehoash and others. The inscription on his tombstone is shown on the right.Works
Books
*
אין פוילישע וועלדער , 1921; translated to English from the Yiddish byIsaac Goldberg :In Polish woods , The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1938
*ראמאן פון א פערד גנב , 1917;Romance of a Horsethief
* The last revolt, the story of Rabbi Akiba; translated from the Yiddish by Moshe Spiegel, The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1952
*א טאג אין רעגעסבורג , Di Goldene Pave Paris 1955; translated to English from the Yiddish by Jacob Sloan:A day in Regensburg ; short stories, The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1968A Movie
* A movie based on "Romance of a Horsethief" was released in 1971. His son,
David Opatoshu wrote the screenplay and it was Directed byAbraham Polonsky . The cast includes, among others,Yul Brynner as Captain Stoloff,Eli Wallach as Kifke,Jane Birkin as Naomi, and his son David as Schloime Kradnik.References and external links
* Lists of Opatoshu's books in the
Chabad library catalogs::* The Hebrew catalog [http://chabadlibrary.org/catalog/index1.php?frame=content&catalog=hcatalog&mode=browse&field=AUTHOR&oys=%25E0&oys2=%E0%E5%F4%E0%E8%E5%F9%E5&browse_limit=0&search_mode=alefbet list] .:* The English catalog [http://chabadlibrary.org/catalog/index1.php?frame=content&catalog=ecatalog&mode=browse&field=AUTHOR&oys=O&oys2=Opatoshu&browse_limit=0&search_mode=alefbet list] .
* Sidebar in Ha'aretz Daily Newspaper, January 13, 2006, page ה1 he icon
* [http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele/tmr/tmr06005.txt "Workbook" on the Asch-Howe Quarrel, on the Hartford, CT, Trinity College web site]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067686 "Romance of a Horsethief" on the IMDb web site]Image Links
* [http://www.lib.uct.ac.za/jewish/graves/grave6.htm His tombstone on the
University of Cape Town "TOMB STONE EXHIBIT" web site]
* [http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/vilna/vilna_pix/083004_1b_b.gifStudio portrait of (right to left) Moshe (Moses) Kulbak, Joseph Opatoshu, Maks Eryk and Zalman Reisen, board members of the Yiddish P.E.N. Club.1928] (from theVilna page on the Eilat Gordin Levitan web site)
* [http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/fishstein/images/09_19c%20Yidish%20un%20yidishkeyt%20portrait.jpga portrait] byMarc Chagall on the TheMcGill University Digital Collections Program web site.
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