The 100th birthday of Sholem Aleichem, the famous Jewish author noted for his humor and known in the United States as “the Jewish Mark Twain, ” was observed here today by the press devoting special articles to the great writer. The New York Public Library marked the anniversary with the opening of a special exhibition, “The World of Sholem Aleichem, ” containing manuscripts, photographs, biographical material and the works of the author.
Sholem Aleichem celebrations are being planned for this week by numerous Jewish cultural organizations in the United States. Reports received here also indicate that such celebrations are being arranged in Poland, France, the Scandinavian countries and in Latin America. A Sholem Aleichem celebration is being held tonight in Moscow, in the Trade Union House.
The governments of Israel and of the Soviet Union have marked the Sholem Aleichem anniversary by issuing special postage stamps. Born in Pereyaslav, Russia, Sholem Aleichem–whose name was Solomon Rabinowitz–started to write in 1879. His early literary efforts were made simultaneously in Yiddish, Hebrew and Russian. He enriched the Yiddish literature with some 40 volumes of short stories, novels and plays. He came to the United States in 1914, and died in New York in 1916.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
