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Jacob Dinezon

Beloved Uncle of Modern Yiddish Literature

Jacob Dinezon

Jacob Dinezon

The Mausoleum of the Three Writers in Warsaw Poland

Jacob Dinezon’s 100th Yortsayt in Warsaw

Scott Davis–Jacob Dinezon, Scott Davis–

“Żydowski” is the Polish word for Jewish, and this is the plaque that marks the Jewish cemetery on Okapowa Street in Warsaw, Poland. The cemetery, which dates back to the first years of the 19th century, is one of the few places that survived the utter destruction of Warsaw by the Nazis during the Second World War. Today, much of the cemetery is overgrown with weeds. The tall, overhanging trees, crumbling walls, leaning granite headstones, and toppled marble monuments, give the graveyard an ancient, disheveled, eerie quality. But we are here to visit the grand and well-tended Mausoleum of the . . . (Read More)

The Dark Young Man Cover

A Publishing Milestone: The Dark Young Man

Scott Davis–Jacob Dinezon–

February 12, 2019/7 Adar I, 5779 is an auspicious day for us. Today Jewish Storyteller Press published the first English translation of Jacob Dinezon’s 1877 Yiddish novel, The Dark Young Man. Translated by Tina Lunson, and adapted and edited by Scott Hilton Davis, Dinezon’s renowned nineteenth-century Jewish romance is now available to twenty-first-century readers. For me personally, this is the culmination of a sixteen-year effort to revive and rescue Jacob Dinezon’s literary legacy. A highly respected and beloved folk writer during his lifetime, Dinezon’s significant contributions to Jewish literature were obscured by the demise of secular Yiddish following the Holocaust. . . . (Read More)

Headstone Unveiling Announcement for Fajga Kac 1929

What’s In A Name

Scott Davis–Jacob Dinezon–

Over the past fifteen years, as I’ve spent time researching the life and career of the Yiddish author Jacob Dinezon, one piece of information has eluded me: the name of Dinezon’s older sister with whom he lived in Warsaw from the mid-1880s until his death in 1919. Many biographers and memoirists speak of Dinezon’s small apartment in the home of his sister and her family, and an announcement in Warsaw’s Yiddish newspaper, Haynt, reveals the location of Dinezon’s passing: “With deepest sorrow we announce to all family members and friends that Friday the 29th of August, 3 Elul, at 5:20 . . . (Read More)