Aaron Zucker (May 15, 1892 – September 13, 1957), better known by his pen name A. Lutzky, was a Ukrainian-born Jewish American Yiddish poet.
Life
Lutzky was born on May 15, 1892
in
Demydivka,
Volhynian Governorate, the son of a bookkeeper.
When Lutzky was twelve, he left the
cheder to study under a cantor in
Lutsk. His Hassidic father disapproved of his son becoming a cantor and sent him to a Yeshiva. Under his mother's influence, he also learned how to play the violin. He began writing poems when he was fourteen, and they won praise from
I. L. Peretz
Isaac Leib Peretz ( pl, Icchok Lejbusz Perec, yi, יצחק־לייבוש פרץ) (May 18, 1852 – April 3, 1915), also sometimes written Yitskhok Leybush Peretz was a Polish Jewish writer and playwright writing in Yiddish. Payson R. Stevens, Cha ...
. He immigrated to America following his father's death in 1914, but not before visiting Peretz in
Warsaw. During the visit, Peretz unsuccessfully tried to convince Lutzky to stay in Warsaw. Lutzky initially worked as a peddler, teacher, and violinist in America. He published his first poems in the ''Yidishes Tageblat'' and ''
Der Tog
''Der Tog'' ( en, The Day) was a Yiddish-language daily newspaper published in New York City from 1914 until 1971. The offices of ''Der Tog'' were located on the Lower East Side, at 185 and 187 East Broadway.
History
The newspaper's first issue ...
'' in 1917. ''
The Forward'' editor
Abraham Cahan recognized Lutzky's talent, had him write a weekly poem for ''The Forward'', and gave him the pseudonym "Lutzky" for his birthplace.
A year later, Lutzky served with the
American Expeditionary Forces in France for
World War I and fought in the trenches of
Verdun. When he returned from his military service, he began writing in a new style that needed to be read aloud to be fully grasped. His first volume of poems, ''Nemt Es! S'is Gut Far Aykh!'' (Take It! It's Good for You!), was published in 1927. This was followed by ''Bereshis-Inmitten'' (The Beginning is the Middle) in 1932, ''Portretn'' (Portraits) in 1945, and ''A Bukh Tsum Lebn'' (A Book for Life) in 1948. He did dramatic impersonations of his poems, acting out through his face and body what his words hinted at. The impersonations were imitated by leading actors and entertainers and entered into the lasting Yiddish repertoire.
Lutzky was a member of the editorial staff of the ''
Jewish Day-
Morning Journal''.
His work appeared in a number of periodicals, including ''
Fraye Arbeter Shtime
''Freie Arbeiter Stimme'' ( yi, פֿרייע אַרבעטער שטימע, romanized: ''Fraye arbeṭer shṭime'', ''lit.'' 'Free Voice of Labor') was a Yiddish-language anarchist newspaper published from New York City's Lower East Side betwe ...
'', ''Tsukunft'', ''Yidisher Kemfer'', and ''Di Goldene Keyt''. Some of his lyrics were translated to Hebrew and English. A fifth volume of his poetry, ''Fun Aldos Guts'' (Of All Good Things), was posthumously published in 1958 and included a bibliography.
Lutzky died from a heart attack on September 13, 1957. He was buried in the
Workmen's Circle section of
Mount Carmel Cemetery.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lutzky, A.
1892 births
1957 deaths
People from Rivne Oblast
People from Lutsk
American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Jewish writers from the Russian Empire
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
Yiddish-language poets
20th-century American Jews
Jewish American poets
American male poets
Poets from New York (state)
20th-century American poets
United States Army personnel of World War I
Burials in New York (state)