Isaac ben Mordechai Rabinowitz (; 13 October 1846 – 9 March 1900), also known by the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Ish Kovno () was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

-born

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

Biography

Born in

Kovno Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

to Rabbi Mordechai ben Yosef, Isaac Rabinowitz began to compose Hebrew poetry at an early age. He took instruction in

Hebrew grammar Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until ...

from

Abraham Mapu Abraham Mapu (; 1808 in Vilijampolė, Kaunas1867 in Königsberg, Prussia) was a Lithuanian novelist. He wrote in Hebrew as part of the Haskalah (enlightenment) movement. His novels, with their lively plots encompassing heroism, adventure and r ...

when fourteen, and entered the Vilna Rabbinical School at the age of eighteen. Rabinowitz settled in Telshi after marrying in 1867, where he befriended Mordecai Nathansohn and

Judah Leib Gordon Judah Leib Gordon (, ; December 7, 1830 – September 16, 1892), also known as Leon Gordon, was among the most important Hebrew poets of the Haskalah. Biography Gordon was born to well-to-do Jewish parents who owned a hotel in Vilnius. As a p ...

and wrote occasionally for Hebrew periodicals. He moved to Vilkomir in 1889, and joined his children in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in 1891. Rabinowitz published most of his Hebrew poetry in

Vilna Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

in 1891 in a book called ''Zemirot Yisrael''. He died in New York at the age of 54 in 1900. Poet Israel Fine published a poem in memory of Rabinowitz in 1907, entitled "Shir Berakhah".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabinowitz, Isaac 1846 births 1900 deaths Writers from Kaunas People from Kovensky Uyezd Lithuanian Jews Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Writers from the Russian Empire Hebrew-language poets Translators to Yiddish Vilna Rabbinical School alumni 19th-century translators