Shmuel Yankev Imber | |
|---|---|
| Native name | שמואל יאַנקעוו(?) אימבער |
| Born | (1889-02-24)24 February 1889 Sasów or Jezierna |
| Died | 1942 (aged 52–53) Złoczów or Jezierna |
| Pen name | Jan Niemiara |
| Language | Yiddish, Polish |
| Citizenship | Polish |
| Alma mater | University of Lviv Jagiellonian University(doctorate) |
| Genre | neo-romantism |
| Notable works | Vos Ikh Zing un Zog Esterke Asy czystej rasy Kąkol na roli |
| Spouse | Nussia Imber (nee Muncz) |
| Relatives | Shmaryahu Imberfather Naftali Herz Imberuncle |
Shmuel Yankev Imber (Russian: Шмуэль Яков Имбер,Hebrew: שמואל יעקב אימבר,Polish: Samuel Jakub Imber, also: Samuel Jacob Imber; 24 February 1889 – 1942) was aJewish poet and publicist writing inPolish andYiddish languages. He was regarded as one of the originators and trailblazers ofYiddish poetry in Galicia, who popularized it in big intellectual centers, and one of the firstneo-romantics of Yiddish poetry.[1]
He was born inGalicia (some sources claim inSasów, some inJezierna [Wikidata])[2] on 24 February 1889,[1] as a son of the Hebrew writer and teacher Shmaryahu Imber and nephew ofNaftali Herz Imber, the author ofHatikvah. Shmuel Yankev received traditional Jewish religious education, and also went to Polish gymnasiums inZłoczów andTarnopol. As a poet he debuted in the weekly newspaperTshernovitser Vokhnblat in 1905. In 1907 he published Polish translations of Jewish and Ukrainian literature, and also own poems under the nom de plume Jan Niemiara. Together withMelech Ravitch from 1909, he strove to promote the aesthetic ideals ofneo-romanticism in Lviv Jewish literary centers, inspired by Jewish writers such asArthur Schnitzler andStefan Zweig. In this year he also published his first Yiddish poetry collectionVos Ikh Zing un Zog (What I Sing And Say). In 1911 he published a romantic poemEsterke about a legendary romance of Polish kingCasimir III the Great anddaughter of a Jewish blacksmith, that gained him a further recognition and acclaim.[2]
In 1911 he started studies in English and Polish literature at theUniversity of Lemberg.[2] In 1912 he visited Palestine, which resulted in publication ofIn Yidishn Land (In Jewish Land) in 1912, later republished in Vienna in 1918 asHeymlider (Home Poems). In 1914 he published love poems in a tomeRoyznbleter (Rose Flowers). Imber was unable to complete his studies because he was recruited into theAustro-Hungarian Army in 1915.[1] After theLemberg pogrom in November 1918, he traveled toVienna and joined a group of Jewish authors and continued to write and edit. There, along with other neo-romantic Yiddish poets such as Ravitch, Melech Chmelnitzky,Dovid Königsberg [Wikidata], andUri Zvi Greenberg, Imber formed the group known as Young Galicia, that began to merge traditional poetry with modern formal experimentation popular in Vienna.[1] Königsberg called Imber the “head” of the movement (and himself as the "heart"). In 1918 they published an anti-war poetry anthologyInter Arma, redacted by Imber. After several month of travel in 1921, Imber returned to now-independent Poland and settled in Lwów, where he finished his studies.[2]
In 1923–1928 he lived in USA, where he redacted a political and literary magazineDi Gegenwart, and an anthologyModern Yiddish Poetry (latin transcription; New York, 1927). After returning to Poland in 1928 he moved to Kraków for a while and concentrated on publicist work, mostly in Polish. He completed his academic studies and earned a doctorate degree fromJagiellonian University on 25 June 1932,based on the dissertationOskar Wilde jako poeta liryczny (Oscar Wilde as a lyrical poet) written under supervision of prof.Roman Dyboski.[2] The dissertation was published asPieśń i dusza Oskara Wilde'a in 1934. His polemic journalist work, mostly about rising antisemitism in Poland, was published in booksAsy czystej rasy (Pure-breed Aces, 1934) andKąkol na roli (Corncockle on the Field, 1938).[2]
First years of the war Imberg spent in his family regions. He remained in Lviv when it was annexed by the Soviet Union.[1] He did not survive the war, and the circumstances of his death are unclear. According to some biographers, he was murdered in Złoczów or Jeziorna, most likely by Ukrainian antisemites during pogroms following the Nazi occupation in 1942.[3][2]
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