Mostly known for having written numerous works in Yiddish, Isaac Bashevis Singer is a great writer recognized internationally. Let’s find out the story of the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978.
Who was Isaac Bashevis Singer
Isaac Bashevis Singer, born Icek-Hersz Zynger (Leoncin, 11 November 1903 – Miami, 24 July 1991), was a Polish writer.
She grows up near Warsaw with her parents very close to what she is there Jewish community mainly because of his father’s and grandfather’s role as rabbi. He is then educated according to the teachings of the religion also studying Hebrew and Aramaic, which join the other languages he studies for passion.
Once he finished his studies he began to work first as a Hebrew teacher and then became proof-reader in the Warsaw magazine “Literarische Bleter”.
He also collaborates as a translator of international works created by authors such as Gabriele D’Annunzio, Thomas Mann and many others. He also joins as co-director of another magazine, “Globus”, where he has the opportunity to publish his novel in installments.
The beginning of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s career
In 1935 he then entered as foreign correspondent in the newspaper “Forverts”, but with the arrival of the new racial laws he is forced to migrate to the United States. Once he arrived in New York he started working for the “Jewish Daily Forward” using various aliases to sign his serialized novels.
While these are successful years on a business level, they prove to be very difficult on a personal level. In fact, he loses many members of his family remaining in contact only with his sister Hinde, also a writer. Only once the war is over can he fully resume his work by publishing “The Moskat family”, a very successful novel in the Jewish community.
The success of Isaac Bashevis Singer
Later he also begins to realize stories in English including “Gimpel the idiot” part of a collection that takes the name of “Alla corte di mio padre”. These novels, still serialized in the Daily Forward, collect autobiographical memories of family life. His success in the United States is mainly due to his choice to publish short stories, already highly regarded in Yiddish.
Some of his novels later became cinematographic transpositions like “The Wizard of Lublin” or “Yentl” by Barbra Streisand. Furthermore, his success both as a writer and as a journalist allows him to obtain eight honorary degrees and the Nobel Prize for literature.