Simon Horontchik

Simon Horontchik (Yiddish: שמעון האָראָנטשיק‎; 13 June 1889 – September 1939) was a Yiddish novelist and short story writer.

Simon Horontchik
Portrait of Horontchik by Gela Seksztajn
Native name
שמעון האָראָנטשיק
Born(1889-06-13)13 June 1889
Vyelun, Kalisz Governorate, Poland
DiedSeptember 1939 (1939-10) (aged 50)
Kalushin, Poland
LanguageYiddish

Horontchik was born into a poor Hasidic family in Vyelun. He worked as a labourer at a lacework factory in Kalisz from the age of 17 until the outbreak of the First World War,[1] during which time he began composing poetry. He narrowly escaped the destruction of Kalisz in August 1914, fleeing to Lodz and then Sompolno. There he became a grocer and married.

His first publication was a short story in the Yiddish daily Lodzer tageblatt in 1916. He published poetry in numerous publications until 1921, when he published his first book, Feldblumen ('Flowers of the Field'; Warsaw, 1921), thereafter devoting himself primarily to prose writing.[2]

He lived for several years in Vlatslavek, Paris, Berlin, and Warsaw.[2][3] He fled toward Vilna upon the Nazi occupation of Warsaw in September 1939, but ran into German troops engaged in a pogrom in Kalushin. He committed suicide to avoid a violent death.[4][5]

Partial bibliography
  • Feldblimen [Flowers of the Field]. Warsaw: Vaysenberg Ferlag. 1921.
  • Farplonterte vegn, oder tsvishn di khurves fun yidishn lebn [Confused Ways, or, Among the Ruins of Jewish Life]. Warsaw: S. Goldfarb. 1924.
  • In geroysh fun mashinen, roman in tsvey teyln [Amid the Whirr of Machines: A Novel in Two Parts]. Warsaw: Farlag Kultur-lige. 1930 [1928].
  • 1905, roman [1905: A Novel]. Warsaw: Farlag Kultur-lige. 1929.
  • Zump, roman [Swamp: A Novel]. Warsaw: Farlag Kultur-lige. 1931.
  • Baym shvel [At the Threshold]. Warsaw: Kinder-fraynd. 1935.
  • Shtarke mentshn, noveln [Strong People: Novellas]. Warsaw: Farlag Kultur-lige. 1936.
  • Masn, roman [Masses: A Novel]. Warsaw: Farlag Kultur-lige. 1929.
  • Dos hoyz afn barg, roman [The House on the Mountain: A Novel]. Warsaw: Farlag Kultur-lige. 1934.
  • Tsvey veltn [Two Worlds]. Warsaw: Farlag Kultur-lige. 1935.
  • Di printsesin, un andere dertseylungen [The Princess, and Other Stories]. Warsaw: Farlag Kultur-lige. 1938.
  • Geklibene shriftn [Selected Writings]. Warsaw: Yidish-bukh. 1950.

References
  1. Schulman, Elias; Miller, Marc (2007). "Horontchik, Simon". In Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred (eds.). Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference.
  2. Fuks, Khayim Leyb (23 February 2016). "Shimen Horontshik (Szymon Horonczyk)". Yiddish Leksikon. Translated by Fogel, Joshua. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  3. Rejzen, Zalman (1926). Leksikon fun der Yidisher literatur, prese un filologye [Lexicon of Yiddish Literature, Press, and Philology] (in Yiddish). 1. Vilna: Farlag fun B. Kletskin. pp. 788–789.
  4. Ravitch, Melech (1945). Mayn leksikon (in Yiddish). 1. Montreal: Aroysgegebn fun a komitet. pp. 65–67.
  5. Cohen, Nathan (2008). "Horontshik, Shimen". In Hundert, Gershon (ed.). YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Translated by Hann, Rami. New Haven: Yale University Press.
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