Funeral services were held here today for Dr. Abraham Asen, Yiddish poet and translator into Yiddish of many English-language classics and portions of the Bible, who died yesterday at the age of 79.
Born in Lithuania, Dr. Asen came to New York at the age of 17 and, while studying dentistry, began contributing to various Yiddish publications. In the dental profession, he found many of his patients among the leading Jewish literary and intellectual figures. Among his translations into Yiddish, in addition to portions of the Bible, were plays and sonnets by Shakespeare and the poetry of Lord Byron, Walt Whitman and Long-fellow.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
