Zangwill, Israel

Zangwill, Israel
born Feb. 14, 1864, London, Eng.
died Aug. 1, 1926, Midhurst, West Sussex

English novelist, playwright, and Zionist leader.

The son of eastern European immigrants, Zangwill drew on his own experience in Children of the Ghetto (1892), which aroused great interest. His The King of Schnorrers (1894) is a picaresque novel about an 18th-century rogue, and Dreamers of the Ghetto (1898) contains essays on famous Jews. The metaphor of America as a crucible wherein various nationalities are transformed into a new race comes from his play The Melting Pot (1908). He is remembered as one of the earliest English interpreters of Jewish immigrant life.

* * *

▪ British author and Zionist leader
born February 14, 1864, London, England
died August 1, 1926, Midhurst, West Sussex
 novelist, playwright, and Zionist (Zionism) leader, one of the earliest English interpreters of Jewish immigrant life.

 The son of eastern European immigrants, Zangwill grew up in London's East End and was educated at the Jews' Free School and at the University of London. His early writings were on popular subjects of his day, but with Children of the Ghetto: A Study of a Peculiar People (1892), he drew on his intimate knowledge of ghetto life to present a gallery of Dickensian portraits of Whitechapel immigrant Jews struggling to survive in a new environment. The novelty of the subject, enhanced by Zangwill's emphasis on the Jews' exotic traits and by his simulation in English of Yiddish sentence structure, aroused great interest. Other works of Jewish content include a picaresque novel, The King of Schnorrers (1894), concerning an 18th-century rogue, and Dreamers of the Ghetto (1898), essays on famous Jewish figures, including Benedict de Spinoza (Spinoza, Benedict de), Heinrich Heine (Heine, Heinrich), and Ferdinand Lassalle (Lassalle, Ferdinand). The image of America as a crucible wherein the European nationalities would be transformed into a “new race” owes its origin to the title and theme of Zangwill's play The Melting Pot (1908).

      Zangwill became a spokesman for Zionism after meeting Theodor Herzl (Herzl, Theodor) in 1896 but broke with the movement to form the Jewish Territorial Organization for the Settlement of the Jews Within the British Empire, of which he was president (1905–25).

Additional Reading
Joseph H. Udelson, Dreamer of the Ghetto: The Life and Works of Israel Zangwill (1990).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • ZANGWILL, ISRAEL — (1864–1926), English author. Born in London of a poor Russian immigrant family, Zangwill was first raised in Bristol and then educated at the Jews Free School in the East End of London and at London University, where he graduated with honors in… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Zangwill, Israel — (1864–1926)    British author and founder of the Jewish Territorial Organization. In the two decades from 1880 to 1900, the influx of immigrants from Russia swelled the Jewish population of London from 45,000 to 150,000, mostly concentrated in… …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Zangwill, Israel — (1864 1926)    Born in London, the novelist wrote about Jewish life, scoring his greatest success with Children of the Ghetto (1892), which he adapted as a play in 1899. Produced by Theodore A. Leibler and directed by James A. Herne, this… …   The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater

  • Zangwill, Israel — ► (1864 1926) Novelista y autor dramático británico. Impulsor del movimiento sionista. Autor de Los hijos del ghetto (1892), entre otras. * * * (14 feb. 1864, Londres, Inglaterra–1 ago. 1926, Midhurst, West Sussex). Novelista, dramaturgo y líder… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Zangwill, Israel — (1864 1926)    He was born in London s East End of refugee parents who escaped the severe decree of Jewish childconscription instituted by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. He was educated at the Jews Free School at Spitalfields, London, and London… …   British and Irish poets

  • Zangwill, Israel — (1864 1926)    English author. He was born in London, where he later taught at the Jewish Free School. His writings include Children of the Ghetto, Ghetto Tragedies, Ghetto Comedies and The King of the Shnorrers. He also produced essays on Jewish …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • ZANGWILL, ISRAEL —    littérateur, born in London, of Jewish parents in poor circumstances; practically self taught; studied at London University, where he took his degree with triple honours; became a teacher, then a journalist; has written novels, essays, and… …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Zangwill, Israel — (b. 1864)    Novelist. Children of the Ghetto (1892), Merely Mary Ann (1893), Ghetto Tragedies (1893), The King of Schnorrers (1894), Dreamers of the Ghetto (1898), They that Walk in Darkness (1899), The Mantle of Elijah (1900), The Grey Wig… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Zangwill — Zangwill, Israel …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Israel Zangwill — (* 21. Januar 1864 in London[1]; † 1. August 1926 in Midhurst, Sussex) war ein britischer jüdischer Schriftsteller, Essayist …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”