Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater

The Leksikon fun Yidishn Teater ("Lexicon of the Yiddish Theater"; Yiddish לעקסיקאן פון יידישן טעאטער) is an encyclopedia published in Yiddish that was compiled by Zalmen Zylbercweig . Later editions were supported by Jacob Mestel .

The six-volume work with 3,066 pages contains biographies of more than 3,000 people such as actors, composers, critics and articles about theater groups on the Yiddish stage arts scene. The encyclopedia presents very extensive representations of important artists such as Abraham Goldfaden , Isaak Leib Peretz and Esther Rachel Kamińska and their works; the encyclopedia is still the only source of less known active people from the years up to 1969.

The editor published the first two volumes through the Elisheva publishing house before the Second World War : in 1931 in New York and in 1934 in Warsaw . Later editions were published in New York and Mexico City from 1959 to 1969 . The lexicon was inadequate in parts installed , contains bad and very subjective information unverified sources and thus forms the problematic situation Zylbercweigs work from.

"The lexicon provides a rich source of material on the history of Jewish theater and the biographies of its artists, indluding descriptions of the Purimspiel tradition taken from the literature and memoirs of the time. Nevertheless, despite the excellent authority of its contributors - all leading historians and critics, such as Shatzky , Mukdoyni , and others - the Leksikon lacks accurate references and mingles authentic material with a medley of episodes and anecdotes that, like most memoirs, suffer from an excess of fantasy, exaggeration, and self-aggrandizement. [emphasis as in the original] "

- The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies, 2002

“Together with the contemporary writings and biographies of the participating artists, the lexicon forms a rich source on the history of Jewish theater, including descriptions of the tradition of the Purim play . Despite this, and regardless of the high reputation of the contributors such as the leading historians and critics Shatzky , Mukdoyni and others, the Leksikon lacks precise sources and mixes authentic material with a jumble of episodes and anecdotes, which, like most memoirs, are based on an excess of imagination, Suffering from exaggeration and self-glorification. "

Nevertheless, the lexicon, with its more than 800 biographies of artistic Yiddish-speaking women, is an important source for the social and cultural documentation of the scene.

At the beginning Zylbercweig received support from the New York Jewish Actors' Association , which sponsored a 16-page advertising brochure for the lexicon in 1928. In addition, the association sent questionnaires to its members, which served as a database for the lexicon entries.

Web links

• Lexicon of the Yiddish Theater, Vol. II ; Warsaw 1934 (Yiddish with English introduction) (PDF; 54.8 MB).
• Lexicon of the Yiddish Theater, Vol. VI ; Mexico 1969 (Yiddish with English introduction) (PDF; 102.7 MB).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ahuva Belkin, Gad Kaynar: Jewish Theater. In: Martin Goodman (Ed.): The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Studies. Oxford University Press, New York 2002, p. 879.
2. ↑ Biography of Zalmen Zylbercweig with his work on the lexicon (English); Retrieved June 25, 2017.
3. ↑ Faith Jones: Sex and Scandal in the "Encyclopedia of the Yiddish Theater" . In: Joel Berkowitz, Barbara Henry (Eds.): Inventing the Modern Yiddish Stage: Essays in Drama, Performance, and Show Business . Wayne State University Press, Detroit 2012, ISBN 978-0-8143-3719-6 , pp. 251-274, here specifically p. 253.