Nahum Stutchkoff

Nahum Stutchkoff, Yiddish נחם סטוטשקאָװ [nɔxəm (nʊxəm) stʊtʃkɔv] , actually Polish Nachum Stuczko or Yiddish נחם סטוטשקאָ [nɔxəm (nʊxəm) stʊtʃkɔ] (born on June 7, 1893 in Brok near Łomża ); (Russia, today on Poland 6 .ża) November 1965 in Brooklyn , New York City ), was a Yiddish- Polish, later Yiddish-American actor , author , radio maker and lexicographer . The largest Yiddish dictionary that has ever been completed comes from Stutchkoff: the Ojzer fun, which spoke Yidish .

Life and work

childhood

Nahum Stutchkoff was as Nachum Stuczko expressed or Yiddish as Nochem Stutschko in the northeast of the then to the Russian Empire belonging to Congress Poland ( " Vistula country ") into a Hasidic born family. He only expanded his name in America in Yiddish with two wow (װ-) and in English with two -ff . In 1900 the family moved to Warsaw , where Stutchkoff attended traditional elementary school ( Cheder ). He then studied at two Talmud schools ( yeshivos ), one in Łomża and one in Warsaw.

theatre

In 1909, at the age of 16, Stutchkoff made the acquaintance of the Yiddish theater , broke off his traditional religious training and became a member of the theater group of the cultural organization Hasomir (Hebrew for "nightingale") led by the writer Jizchok Lejb Perez . He made his debut in Scholem Alejchem's play Mentschn (People) and then performed with various troops in Poland and Russia. Around 1912 he was called up for military service. After his release, Stutchkoff was engaged by Adolf Segal and from 1917 played for the Undser Winkl theater in what is now the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv , which maintained a lively theater life despite the First World War and the subsequent Russian civil war . In 1921 the association was integrated into a state theater, whereupon the troupe dispersed. Stutchkoff entered the Yiddish State Theater of Vitebsk (now Belarus). In 1923 he emigrated to the United States of America with his wife Zilje and their son Mischa, who was born in 1918 .

Stutchkoff first appeared on Yiddish stages in New York (1923) and Philadelphia (1924–1925); In 1926 he became secretary of the Yiddish Dramatic Society. After translating plays for the Yiddish theater in Russia, in America he increasingly shifted to writing and editing operettas, comedies and dramas for the Yiddish stage. He worked with numerous greats in Yiddish theater such as Molly Picon , Ludwig Satz , Sholom Secunda , Joseph Rumshinsky , Menasha Skulnik and others - often more to the delight of the audience than the critics.

radio

In 1931, Stutchkoff got his first job in a small Brooklyn radio studio that the owner of a womenswear store had set up. A little later he became an announcer at the radio station WLTH, where shortly afterwards he took over a talent show for children from Sholom Secunda and renamed it Feter Nochemß yidische scho ("Uncle Nahum's Yiddish lesson ").

Quickly becoming popular, Stutchkoff was hired in 1932 by WEVD, a radio station acquired in the same year by the Yiddish daily Forwertß ( The Jewish Daily Forward ) and previously founded by the Socialist Party of America . For the next three decades or so, Stutchkoff was the author, director and speaker of about a dozen TV series and thousands of advertisements that he produced for his sponsors. His melodramatic series Ba tate-mameß table (“At the family table ”), broadcast every Sunday, was popular in the 1930s - the series was so popular that Stutchkoff then reworked it for the stage. There were numerous comedies he wrote for the radio, including Eni un Beni (“Annie and Benny”), In a jidischer großei (“In a Jewish grocery store”), In a frejlechn winkl (“In a cheerful corner”) and An ejdem af keasst ("A son-in-law supported by the woman's parents") are a kind of sitcom of the time.

After the United States entered World War II in 1941, radio comedies were no longer popular, and Stutchkoff created the melodramatic series Zoreß ba lajtn (“People's Worries”), which ended each time with an appeal for donations to homes for the elderly and care homes ran for fifteen years. His only program in which he addressed the Holocaust directly was broadcast in 1943 and was called Der gehénem ("Hell"); its immediate purpose - it was funded by the Treasury Department - was to promote American war bonds.

The series Mame-loschn (“mother tongue”), broadcast in 615 episodes from 1948 , in which he reminded his listeners of the rich Yiddish vocabulary rich in anecdotes and often in the form of small dramatic scenes, was created by Stutchkoff in response to the annihilation of European Jewry - Yiddish had "lost father and mother" in the Holocaust, and American Judaism should take care of this orphan. At the same time, the program served to popularize his Ojzer (see below). In 1951 Stutchkoff finally started again a series of family dramas , A welt mit weltelech (“A world with small worlds”). Stutchkoff's engagement on the radio lasted until 1958 or 1959.

lexicography

Stutchkoff acquired lasting importance as a lexicographer. In 1931 he published a Yiddish rhyme lexicon (Gramen-lekßikon), in 1950 an onomasiologically arranged thesaurus of the Yiddish language (Ojzer fun der Yidischer schprach) and, published posthumously in 1968, a thesaurus of the Hebrew language (Ozar ha'safah ha'iwrit) . The latter lagged behind in its day and essentially described the learned Hebrew of the European Jews, not the modern colloquial language of Israel.

The Ojzer fun der Yidischer schprach, on the other hand, based on the rhyming lexicon , which already contains 35,000 entries, forms the undisputed main work of Stutchkoff. Although he was self-taught, he created the most comprehensive dictionary of the Yiddish language to this day, comprising around 90,000 individual words and 8,000 idioms (a total of almost 175,000 entries due to multiple responses) and as a »memory« for the Yiddish language, which was threatened with extinction after the Holocaust should serve. The model was Peter Mark Roget's English thesaurus, but Stutchkoff reduced its 1000 onomasiological categories to 650. The work was enthusiastically received by the critics and sold 2000 times in the first year alone. In contrast to many other publications of the YIVO (Jidischer wissnschaftlecher institut - Institute for Jewish Research) and against the advice of the editor Max Weinreich , Stutchkoff's thesaurus was by no means purely linguistic , but also contained over 1,500 Americanisms , almost 3,000 Germanisms (Dajtschmerisms), over 1,000 Slavisms , almost 500 vulgarisms , 700 comic expressions and another 700 archaisms , dialectalisms , terms from slang and sovietisms . Some reviewers, including Isaac Bashevis Singer , criticized the fact that the publisher Weinreich could not fail to mark numerous words as "not recommended" and that the Ojzer, conversely, contains many made-up words that were created by the YIVO outside of purist circles but were never used.

The card catalog of the thesaurus then became the basis of an even more comprehensive work, the Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language (Grojßerwerterbuch fun der Yidischer schprach), which Stutchkoff wanted to develop under the editor of the YIVO and in collaboration with the linguists Yudel Mark and Judah A. Joffe . For conceptual and personal reasons, however, he left after only three years in 1955; his pragmatic lexicographical approach could not be reconciled with the scientific claim of Yudel Mark. From Grojßn werterbuch finally appeared 1961-1980, only the first four volumes, all of which include with Aleph and consequently the majority of the onset of vocal words (according to the Yiddish orthography are all with / a /, / j /, / ej /, / o /, / oj / and / u / starting words written with an introductory aleph).

Family and person

Stutchkoff's wife Zilje (English Celia ), born Genzer (1893–?), Was also an actress and later, like their son Mischa (1918–2003) and daughter Esther (later married Baron, 1924–?) , Appeared in their own radio series. Misha also appeared in Yiddish films and later wrote English television programs for Hollywood under the name Michael Morris . Stutchkoff's father apparently died before the Second World War, while his mother and sister perished in the Warsaw ghetto . His brother Aaron worked as a rabbi in London .

Stutchkoff, who grew up in a traditional Jewish-Yiddish environment in Poland, but turned away from this life as a youth, became an energetic advocate of traditional Jewish existence as a result of the extensive destruction of European Jewry by the National Socialists and spoke out against assimilation in language and religion. His Yiddish became more linguistically aware and cared for , and he recommended that parents give their children a Jewish upbringing.

Stutchkoff was extremely gifted at languages. He grew up speaking Yiddish , Polish and Russian , learned Hebrew at school , then German and French and finally - according to one of his grandchildren - English during the crossing to America from reading William Shakespeare , Mark Twain and the Encyclopaedia Britannica .

plant

Selected publications

The catalog raisonné compiled by Burko and Seigel (2014) includes

three dozen self-written stage pieces - including stage adaptations of own radio series - including:

• The serpent in Gan-ejdn [The serpent in the Garden of Eden] (drama, performed 1910s / 1920s)
• Di zwej kaleß [The Two Brides] (musical comedy, performed 1925)
• Who am I? (Comedy, performed 1925–1926)
• Masl fun frojen [happiness of women] (comedy, performed 1925–1926)
• A mol is gewén [Once upon a time] (drama, performed 1926)
• In rojtn Rußland [In Red Russia] (drama, performed 1928)
• As der rebe wil [Wenn der Rebbe will] (operetta, performed 1929)
• Der zadik in fur [The wise man in fur] (musical comedy, 1929)
• Oj, Amerike [Oh, Amerika] (musical comedy, performed 1930/1931)
• Ba tate-mameß table [Am family table ] (two dramas, performed in 1938 and 1939)
• In a Jidischer großei [In a Jewish grocery store] (two dramas, performed in 1938 and 1939)

two dozen translations of plays from other languages, including:

• The jid fun Konstanz (The Jew from Konstanz, by Wilhelm von Scholz , performed in the 1910s / 1920s)
• The ajnschildeter sick (Le malade imaginère, by Jean-Baptiste Molière , performed 1910s / 1920s)
• Intereßn-schpil (Los intereses creados, by Jacinto Benavente , performed 1917–1921)
• Hotel-Wirtn (La locanderia, by Carlo Goldoni , performed 1917–1921)
• Der ganew (Scrupules, by Octave Mirbeau , performed 1917–1921)
• The barren (L'avare, by Jean-Baptiste Molière, performed 1921–1923)

over ten radio series produced for the station WEVD, including:

• In a Yidish largeri [In a Jewish grocery store] (? - ?, 159 episodes)
• Ba tate-mameß table [At the family table ] (1935–1940, 136 episodes)
• Zoreß ba lajtn [Worries of the People] (1944–1959 ?, 217 episodes)
• Mame-loschn [mother tongue] (1948–?, 615 episodes) - printed, published by Alec Eliezer Burko, New York 2014
• A welt mit weltelech [A world with small worlds] (1951– ?, 114 episodes)

countless advertising spots (product placements and commercial sketches )

around a dozen texts for musical arcs, which were set to music by Abe Ellstein , Joseph Rumshinsky and Sholom Secunda

three books:

• Yidischer gramen-lekßikon [Yiddish Reimlexikon], New York 1931
• Ojzer fun der Yidischer schprach [thesaurus of the Yiddish language], New York 1950, unaltered reprint ibid. 1991
• Ozar ha'safah ha'iwrit [Thesaurus of the Hebrew Language], New York 1968

estate

Stutchkoff's estate is in the New York Public Library (New York City), the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (New York City), the Library of Congress (Washington) and the American Folklife Center (Washington).

While most of the scripts for the radio broadcasts have survived, only a few audio files have survived. They were saved by the Yiddish Radio Project (directed by Henry Sapoznik ) and some of them can be heard on www.yiddishradioproject.org.

swell

Literature (selection)

• JB [= Jankew Birnbojm]: sstutschkow, Nochem. In: Lekßikon fun der najer jidischer literature, arojßgegebn fun Alweltlechn jidischn culture congress, Volume 6, New York 1965, Sp. 385–387. - Addendum with wrong date of death (November 25, 1965) in Berl Kagan: Lekßikon fun Yidisch-schrajberß. New York 1986, col. 404.
• Mame-loschn fun Nochem ßutschkow, edited by fun Lejser Burko, with an arajnfir un an arumnemiker bibljografje fun Lejser Burko un Mirjem-Chaje ßejgel, Forwertß ojßgabe, Nju-Jork 2014 / ed. By Alec Eliezer Burko, with an introduction and Alec Eliezer Burko and Amanda Seigel, Forward, New York 2014, ISBN 978-1-4954-0658-4 (in Yiddish, with an English summary).
• Amanda Seigel: Nahum Stutchkoff's Yiddish Play and Radio Scripts in the Dorot Jewish Division, New York Public Library. In: Judaica Librarianship 16, 2011, pp. 55–82 (in English).
• Mirjem-Chaje ßejgel [= Amanda Seigel]: 'You like Crimean chees?' 'Gaslnte, is woß-she schwajgssu?' Dijidische radio-programen fun Nochem stutschkow. In: Afn schwel 348–349, 2010, pp. 37–43 (in Yiddish).
• Sch. un ME [= written un mindlecher entfer, = written and oral information]: ßtutschkow, Nochem. In: Salmen Silberzwajg , Lekßikon fun jidischn teater , Volume 2, Warsaw 1934, pp 1464-1466 (in Yiddish; an English translation is online accessible).
• Yankl Stillman: The Yiddish Thesaurus and Nahum Stutchkoff. In: Jewish Currents 2, 2008, pp. 60–62 (also online ; essentially summarizes information from Zylbercveig's Theaterlexikon and the Yiddish Radio Project).

Obituaries

• Jizchok Warschawßki [= pseudonym of Isaac Bashevis Singer ]: Nochem ßtutschkow un sajn large monument. In: Forwertß, November 15, 1965, pp. 4–5 (in Yiddish).
• [without name:] Nahum Stutchkoff, Yiddish dramatist. In: New York Times, November 19, 1965 (in English).

Web links

• Yiddish Radio Project - Nahum Stutchkoff (in English; also contains a translation and an update of the entry in the above-mentioned lexicon of Yiddish theater).
• Boris Sandler, Leyzer Burko: Ads by Nahum Stutchkoff . Treasures From the Forvert's Archive, Chapter # 7, ed. by The Jewish Daily Forward , June 11, 2015 (in Yiddish, with English subtitles).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ J. B .: schtutschkow, Nochem. In: Lekßikon fun der najer jidischer literature, arojßgegebn fun Alweltlechn jidischn culture congress, vol. 6, New York 1965, col. 385; Mame-loschn fun Nochem ßutschkow, edited by fun Lejser Burko, with an arajnfir un an arumnemiker bibljografje fun Lejser Burko un Mirjem-Chaje ßejgel, Forwertß ojßgabe, New York 2014, p. 14.
2. ↑ The statement "Brock, a neighborhood of Lodz" on yiddishradioproject.org is a wrong translation of the Yiddish text in Zylbercveig's theater dictionary, where it says Brok, lomzher . However, Lomzhe is Łomża, not Łodż, and Gegnt means “region, district, district”, not “neighborhood”.
3. ↑ Mame-loschn fun Nochem ßutschkow, edited by fun Lejser Burko, with an arajnfir un an arumnemiker bibljografje fun Lejser Burko un Mirjem-Chaje ßejgel, Forwertß ojßgabe, New York 2014, p. 14.
4. ↑ For this chapter see J. B .: ßtutschkow, Nochem. In: Lekßikon fun der najer jidischer literatur, arojßgegebn fun Alweltlechn jidischn culture congress, vol. 6, New York 1965, col. 385–387; Sch. un M. E .: schtutschkow, Nochem. In: Zalmen Zylbercweig, Lekßikon fun jidischn teater, Vol. 2, Warsaw 1934, pp. 1464–1466; Mame-loschn fun Nochem ßutschkow, edited by fun Lejser Burko, with an arajnfir un an arumnemiker bibljografje fun Lejser Burko un Mirjem-Chaje ßejgel, Forwertß ojßgabe, New York 2014, pp. 14-17.
5. ↑ For this chapter see Mame-loschn fun Nochem ßutschkow, edited fun Lejser Burko, with an arajnfir un an arumnemiker bibljografje fun Lejser Burko un Mirjem-Chaje ßejgel, Forwertß ojßgabe, New York 2014, pp. 17-22, 42-46.
6. ↑ On Ozar ha'safah ha'iwrit see Mame-loschn fun Nochem ßtutschkow, edited by fun Lejser Burko, with an arajnfir un an arumnemiker bibljografje fun Lejser Burko un Mirjem-Chaje ßejgel, Forwertß ojßgabe, New York 2014, p. 56 f.
7. ↑ For details on Ojzer, see Mame-loschn fun Nochem ßutschkow, edited by fun Lejser Burko, with an arajnfir and an arumnemiker bibljografje fun Lejser Burko and Mirjem-Chaje ßejgel, Forwertß ojßgabe, New York 2014, pp. 22-42.
8. ↑ Mame-loschn fun Nochem ßutschkow, edited by fun Lejser Burko, with an arajnfir and an arumnemiker bibljografje fun Lejser Burko and Mirjem-Chaje ßejgel, Forwertß ojßgabe, New York 2014, pp. 48-55.
9. ↑ Mame-loschn fun Nochem ßutschkow, edited by fun Lejser Burko, with an arajnfir and an arumnemiker bibljografje fun Lejser Burko and Mirjem-Chaje ßejgel, Forwertß ojßgabe, New York 2014, pp. 46-48.
10. ↑ Mame-loschn fun Nochem ßutschkow, edited by fun Lejser Burko, with an arajnfir un an arumnemiker bibljografje fun Lejser Burko un Mirjem-Chaje ßejgel, Forwertß ojßgabe, New York 2014, pp. 62–76.