Mark Markovich Warshawsky (Varshavsky) (, ; 26 November 1848In contrast to more recent scholarship, Noach Prilutski (1882-1941), in an article translated into English and adapted by Shura Vaisman, as

, via ibiblio.org, states (evidently in error) that Warshawsky was born in Zhitomir in 1845. – 1907) was a

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

-language folk poet and composer.Mlotek, Chana (February 18, 2011).
Varshavski, Mark
" ''YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe''. yivoencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 2017-06-26.

Biography

Mark Warshawsky was born in

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

into an

Ashkenazi Jewish Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

family. He moved with his family as a child to

Zhitomir Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...

, where he later attended the four-year state rabbinical high school. He then went on to study law at

Odessa University The Odesa I.I.Mechnykov National University (), often referred to as Odesa National University ( ONU, ), located in Odesa, Ukraine, is one of that country's major state-sponsored universities, named after the scientist Élie Metchnikoff (1845- ...

for one year, and completed his studies at

Kiev University The Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (; also known as Kyiv University, Shevchenko University, or KNU) is a public university in Kyiv, Ukraine. The university is the third-oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and ...

and upon completion of his studies, began to practice law in Kiev. He practiced law throughout his life, barely managing to make a living. In 1903 he moved to Belgium to work as a legal adviser for a firm there; upon falling ill in 1905, he returned to Kiev, where he died two years later. According to Prilutsky, Warshawsky spoke in the

dialect of the Volyn region. Under the influence of

Abraham Goldfaden Abraham Goldfaden (; born Avrum Goldnfoden; 24 July 1840 – 9 January 1908), also known as Avram Goldfaden, was a Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in Yiddish and Hebrew languages and author of some 40 plays. Goldfad ...

, Warshawsky started to write songs and sing them in his circle of friends accompanied by a

fortepiano A fortepiano is an early piano. In principle, the word "fortepiano" can designate any piano dating from the invention of the instrument by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1700 up to the early 19th century. Most typically, however, it is used to ref ...

. He did not take his musical work seriously and never recorded those songs, relying only on his memory. Many of his works spread throughout the Jewish community of the Ukrainian region of the Russian Empire simply through repeated performance and most were adopted as folk songs. In 1890 Warshawsky met with

Sholem Aleichem Solomon Naumovich Rabinovich (; May 13, 1916), better known under his pen name Sholem Aleichem (Yiddish language, Yiddish and , also spelled in Yiddish orthography#Reform and standardization, Soviet Yiddish, ; Russian language, Russian and ), ...

. After listening to his songs, Sholem Aleichem wrote "I simply hugged him and kissed him!" And then, Later, with Aleichem's full cooperation, Warshawsky published his first collection, ''Yiddishe Volkslider'' (''Jewish People's songs'', Kiev, 1900) with a hearty foreword from the great writer, Aleichem. The book was republished not only in Russia, but abroad as well. The collection included such songs as ''Der Alef-Beis'' (commonly known as Oyfn Pripetshik), ''A Brif fun Amerike'', and ''Der Zeide mit der Babe''. The songs described the everyday life of Jews in the Russian Empire. Together Sholem Aleichem and Warshawsky started to tour Russia performing their own repertoires. They also planned to travel to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

; however, those plans were unfulfilled when Warshawsky suddenly became ill and died on November 26, 1907. The second edition of the Warshawsky's songs was published in

in 1914, and then in New York (1948) and Buenos-Aires (1958).

Bibliography

* * Mlotek, Chana (February 18, 2011).
Varshavski, Mark
" ''YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe''. yivoencyclopedia.org. * Prilutski, Noach, entry on Mark Warshawsky in ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' (in Russian).

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

: ''Obshchestvo Dlia Nauchnykh Evreiskikh Izdanii'', Brokhaus-Efron, 1906-13.

References

External links

* (in Yiddish), performed by Esther Ofarim.
Warshawsky at Virtual Jewish Encyclopedia

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warshawsky, Mark 1848 births 1907 deaths Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni Odesa Jews Lawyers from Kyiv Yiddish-language writers Yiddish-language singers of Russia Writers from the Russian Empire Male singers from the Russian Empire

Biography

See also

Bibliography

References

External links