Eliezer Isaac Schapira

Eliezer Isaac Schapira (Hebrew: אליעזר יצחק שׁפירא, romanizedEliʻezer Yitsḥak Shapira; 6 November 1835 – March 1915) was a Jewish Polish writer, translator, and publisher.

Eliezer Isaac Schapira
Portrait by Constantin Shapiro
Portrait by Constantin Shapiro
Born(1835-11-06)6 November 1835
Sereje, Suwałki Governorate, Congress Poland
DiedMarch 1915 (1915-04) (aged 79)
Warsaw, Congress Poland
Pen nameIsh (אי״ש)[1]
LanguageHebrew
Literary movementHaskalah

Biography

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Eliezer Isaac Schapira was born in 1835 in Sereje, Suwałki Governorate, and studied at the yeshiva of Sejny before moving to Augustów to study with his uncle, a rabbi in that city. Under the influence of his relative T. P. Schapira [he], he became a Hebrew teacher and a proponent of the Haskalah.[2]

In 1874, Schapira settled in Warsaw, where he opened the first publishing house for children's and young people's Hebrew literature.[3] He would become the main publisher and distributor of the works of Judah Leib Gordon.[4] He meanwhile contributed his own articles and translations to Ha-Maggid, Ha-Tsfira, Ha-Melitz, Ha-Yom, and Ha-Asif,[2] and for a time edited the periodical Ha-Boker Or [Wikidata].[5]

Selected publications

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  • Mikhtavim ba-sefer. Warsaw: Y. Goldman. 1871.
  • Meged yeraḥim. Vol. 1–2. Warsaw: Y. Goldman. 1871. Collection of translated stories.[3]
  • Bet ha-otsar. Vol. 1–2. Warsaw: Y. Goldman. 1875.
  • Yad ḥarutsim. Warsaw: A. Ginz. 1879.
  • Reshimat sifre Haskalah. Warsaw: Ḥ. Kelter. 1883.
  • Ha-podeh u-matsil. Warsaw. 1885.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Translation of Salomon Kohn's novel Gallerie der Sippurim.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Davidson, Israel (1907). Parody in Jewish Literature. Columbia University Press. p. 243.
  2. ^ a b Alexandroni, Yaʿakov, ed. (1966). Sefer yizkor li-ḳehilat Ogusṭov ṿeha-sevivah [Augustów Memorial Book] (in Hebrew). Tel-Aviv: Irgun yotsʾe Ogusṭov ṿeha-sevivah be-Yiśrẚel. pp. 258–259.
  3. ^ a b "Children's Literature". Encyclopaedia Judaica. Vol. 5. Jerusalem. 1972. p. 432.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Cohen, Hagit (2009). "The Jewish Book Shop in the Urban Landscape of Eastern Europe at the End of the 19th Century". In Lempertienė, L.; Šiaučiūnaitė-Verbickienė, J. (eds.). Jewish Space in Central and Eastern Europe: Day-to-Day History. Cambridge Scholars Publisher. pp. 198–199. ISBN 978-1-4438-0622-0.
  5. ^ Holtzman, Avner (2008). "Boker Or, Ha-". In Hundert, Gershon (ed.). YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Translated by Fachler, David. New Haven: Yale University Press.
  6. ^ Van Straalen, Samuel (1894). Catalogue of Hebrew Books in the British Museum, Acquired During the Years 1868–1892. London: British Museum. p. 228.