Samuel Niger, renowned Yiddish critic, publicist, lecturer and cultural worker, was fifty years of age yesterday. This fact was brought to light by a congratulatory cable addressed by Simon Dubnow, famous Jewish historian, and Daniel Charney, poet and younger brother of Mr. Niger, to The Day, where Mr. Niger is now a staff writer. Mr. Niger was born in 1883 into a Chassidic family of Dukor, in the province of Minsk. His interest in world affairs and in the Zionist movement in particular were aroused while he was still a young rabbinical student He became a member of the first Poale Zion group founded in Minsk and later was one of the founders of the Zionist Socialist Party. On account of his party activities Mr. Niger served several prison terms in Warsaw, Dvinsk and Odessa. As editor of The Day in Wilno in 1919, he was court martialed together with A. Weiter, writer, and the poet, Leib Jaffe, who is now at the head of the Keren Hayesod in Palestine. Weiter was shot by the Polish legionaries, while Niger and Jaffe were deported to Lida. Thanks to the efforts of Jewish leaders, these two Jewish writers were saved from death. Niger then came to America and made his home in New York.
Mr. Niger did his first writing in Hebrew and Russian, later devoting himself entirely to work in Yiddish. He is best known as a literary critic, but has also written many articles and essays on other subjects. Only a small part of his work has been published in book form.
Besides writing for The Day, Mr. Niger has edited the New York Kinder Journal since 1921. and contributes frequently to various periodicals in this country and abroad.
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.
