Literatureאיציק מאנגר

Itzik Manger

Itzik Manger was a Yiddish poet and playwright, known for his modern retellings of Biblical stories such as Songs of the Megillah.

1901 to 1969Yiddish poetrySongs of the MegillahModern retellings of Biblical storiesThe song On the Road Stands a Tree

Born: 30 May 1901, Chernivtsi
Died: 21 February 1969, Gedera
Occupation: poet, writer, literary critic

Itzik Manger was born in 1901 in Chernivtsi

Manger was born in 1901 to a Jewish family in Czernowitz, then in Austria-Hungary. His father, Hillel, was a tailor who loved literature. As a teenager he studied at the German state gymnasium in the city, where he came to know German literature.

He began publishing poems in 1921 and wrote for Yiddish newspapers in Romania while giving lectures. In 1929 he published his first poetry book, Stars on the Roof. He then made Warsaw the center of his work, publishing Songs of the Pentateuch in 1935 and Songs of the Megillah in 1936.

After losing his Romanian citizenship he left Poland in 1938 for Paris. He later reached London, where he became a British citizen, and in 1951 he settled in New York with his wife Ghenya.

He first visited Israel in 1958 and moved there, already ill, in 1966. A 1965 Israeli musical based on Songs of the Megillah ran for more than 400 performances. He died in Gedera in 1969.