Samuel Gordon (10 September 1871 – 10 January 1927) was an English novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His fiction largely focused on the lives of contemporary

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

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 ...

Jews.

Biography

Samuel Gordon was born in Buk,

Province of Posen The Province of Posen (; ) was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920, occupying most of the historical Greater Poland. The province was established following the Greater Poland Uprising (1848), Poznań Uprisi ...

to Jewish parents Bertha (née Pulver) and Rev. Abraham Elias Gordon. He went to England with his parents in 1883, where his father became

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

of the

Great Synagogue of London The Great Synagogue of London was a former Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the City of London, England, in the United Kingdom. The synagogue was, for centuries, the centre of Ashkenazi life in Lo ...

. Gordon was educated at the City of London School, and read

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

at Queens' College, Cambridge, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in 1893. He was appointed secretary of the Great Synagogue the following year. Gordon published several novels and volumes of short stories, mainly dealing with Jewish life and character, among them ''A Handful of Exotics'' (1897), ''Daughters of Shem'' (1898), ''Lesser Destinies'' (1899), ''Strangers at the Gate'' (1902), ''God's Remnants'' (1916), and the

historical romance Historical romance is a broad category of mass-market fiction focusing on romantic relationships in historical periods, which Lord Byron, Byron helped popularize in the early 19th century. The genre often takes the form of the novel. Varieties ...

''The Lost Kingdom; or, the Passing of the Khazars'' (1926). ''In Years of Tradition'' (1897) and ''The New Galatea'' (1901) were his chief works outside Jewish lines. Gordon's most accomplished work was ''Sons of the Covenant: A Tale of London Jewry'' (1900), which portrays the lives of two newly-arrived Jewish immigrants to London's East End. He travelled widely in Europe and lived briefly in the United States. As a journalist, Gordon covered the Fourth Zionist Congress in London for ''The Manchester Guardian'' in 1900. He later worked in the Censor's Office during the World War I. Gordon died on 10 January 1927 at the age of 55. A theatrical adaptation of ''Daughters of Shem'' was performed at the New Scala shortly after his death.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Samuel 1871 births 1927 deaths 19th-century English Jews 20th-century English Jews 19th-century English short story writers 20th-century English short story writers 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English novelists 20th-century English novelists 19th-century Prussian people Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Jewish English writers English male dramatists and playwrights English male novelists English male short story writers Emigrants from the German Empire to the United Kingdom Jewish dramatists and playwrights Jewish novelists Writers from the Province of Posen Writers from London