Osip Dymov was the pseudonym for Yosif (Osip) Isidorovich Perelman (1878–1959), a Russian writer.[1] His brother was popular-science writer Yakov Perelman.[2]
Dymov was born in Białystok, in the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Poland).[3] His father came from Germany, and died when Yosif was quite young. Yosif attended a Russian gymnasium, and went on to study at the Imperial Forestry Institute in St. Petersburg,[3] graduating in 1902.
At the age of 16 he began to publish humorous stories in Russian satiric journals.[3] At that time he took the pen name 'Osip Dymov', from the character in Anton Chekhov's short story "The Grasshopper" (1892),[4] and continued to write under that name throughout his career.[1]
He emigrated to the United States in 1913,[3] at the invitation of Yiddish actor and theatre director Boris Thomashefsky,[2] and subsequently became known for his contributions to Yiddish theatre.[1] Among his most popular plays are Yoshke Musikant (Yoshke the musician; 1914) and Bronx Express (1919).[2] The latter play had its premiere in 1919 in a Yiddish translation, at the Jewish Art theatre of Jacob Ben-Ami; it was later translated into English and performed at the Astor Theatre on Broadway, in 1922,[5] to mixed reviews.[6]
See also
References
- ^ a b c Sandrow, Nahma (1976). Vagabond Stars: A World History of Yiddish Theater. New York: Limelight Editions. p. 193.
- ^ a b c Schedrin, Vassili (1 March 2011). "Dymov, Osip". YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
- ^ a b c d Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred, eds. (2007). "Ossip Dymov". Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference. ISBN 978-0-02-866097-4 – via Biography in Context database.
- ^ Stalter-Pace, S. (2013). Underground Movements: Modern Culture on the New York City Subway. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 9781625340559. p. 116-117.
- ^ The Bronx Express at the Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 2017-04-01.
- ^ Stalter-Pace (2013), p. 112.
External links