Miriam Shomer Zunser
Miriam Shomer Zunser | |
|---|---|
 Miriam Zunzer | |
| Born | Manya Shaikevitsch November 25, 1882 |
| Died | October 11, 1951 (aged 68) |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse | Charles Zunser |
| Parent | Nokhem Mayer Shaikevitsch (father) |
| Relatives | Anna Shomer Rothenberg (sister) Rose Shomer Bachelis (sister) Abraham Shomer (brother) |
Miriam Shomer Zunser (November 25, 1882 – October 11, 1951) was an American journalist, playwright and artist. She was a significant promoter of Jewish culture prior to World War II.[1]
Life
[edit]Shomer was born Manya Shaikevitsch in Odessa, Russian Empire, to Nokhem Mayer Shaikevitsch, a novelist and playwright, and his wife Dinneh Bercinsky. Her family emigrated in 1889 to New York. She was known by her nickname, Minnie.[2] After graduating high school she worked as a librarian while attending art classes taught by Henry McBride at the Educational Alliance.[1]
In the 1920s, Zunser began writing Yiddish theater, sometimes cowriting with her sister Rose. As Yiddish theater lost popularity in the 1930s, Zunser began writing in English for the Broadway stage.[2]
In 1932 Zunser was a co-founder and initial president of MAILAMM, the America-Palestine Institute of Musical Sciences (known by its Hebrew acronym), a society for the study and promotion of Jewish music in Palestine and the United States.[1][3] Later, she was treasurer of the Jewish Music Forum.[4]
Having worked with Henrietta Szold, she was the founder of the Brooklyn chapter of Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America. She also was a delegate to the American Jewish Congress in 1917.
Zunser died in New York City.
Personal
[edit]In 1905 she married Charles Zunser, son of the poet Eliakum Zunser. They had three children.[1] Her sister was the Yiddish folksinger Anna Shomer Rothenberg.
Publications
[edit]- The master of Thronfield; a play in 4 acts, built on the story of Jane Eyre. 192?. With Rose Shomer.[2]
- Fortune's fool; a musical comedy in two acts and four scenes. New York: 192?[5]
- A child's kingdom. New York: 192?[6]
- Goldenlocks and the bears. New York: 192?[7]
- Yesterday : a memoir of a Russian Jewish family. Published in 1939 by Stackpole Sons. Republished in 1978 by Harper & Row.[8]
- Avinu Shomer (אבינו שמ״ר). Yerushalayim: Aḥiʼasaf, 1953.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Goldstein, Eric L. "Zunser, Miriam Shomer". Jewish Women in America: an Historical Encyclopedia (New York: Routledge, 1997), vol. 2, p. 1549-1550. Published online via Jewish Women's Archive. jwa.org. March 1, 2009.
- ^ a b c "archives.nypl.org -- Miriam Shomer Zunser papers". archives.nypl.org. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
- ^ "About Us". American Society for Jewish Music. jewishmusic-asjm.org. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
- ^ "Miriam Zunser, Author and Play Wright, Dead; Impressive Funeral Held". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. October 15, 1951.
- ^ Zunser, Miriam S, and Rose S. Bachelis. Fortune's Fool: A Musical Comedy in Two Acts and Four Scenes. New York, 1920.
- ^ Zunser, Miriam Shomer; Badanes, Ida. The child's kingdom; a play in one act. [New York]. OCLC 44707068.
- ^ Zunser, Miriam Shomer; Badanes, Ida. Goldenlocks and the bears; a drama for children, old and young, in four acts. [New York]. OCLC 44707209.
- ^ Zunser, Miriam Shomer; Leider, Emily Wortis (1978-01-01). Yesterday: a memoir of a Russian Jewish family. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0060125535.
- ^ Bachelis, Rose Shomer; Zunser, Miriam Shomer; Ṿaisman, Aharon (1953-01-01). אבינו שמ״ר / (in Hebrew). ירושלים: אחיאסף. OCLC 19146464.
External links
[edit]- Miriam Shomer Zunser Papers at the New York Public Library
- 1882 births
- 1951 deaths
- 20th-century American musicologists
- Odesa Jews
- American women dramatists and playwrights
- Jewish American journalists
- Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
- 20th-century American women artists
- Artists from New York City
- Jewish American dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century American women journalists
- 20th-century American journalists
- 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
- 20th-century American women writers
- Jewish women writers
- Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America members
- Jewish women artists
- Jewish American artists
- Jewish musicologists