Rachel Boymvol, sometimes spelled Baumwoll ( Russian: Рахиль Львовна Баумволь, Yiddish: רחל בױמװאָל, Hebrew: רחל בוימוול, March 4, 1914, Odessa - June 16, 2000, Jerusalem) was a Soviet poet, children's book author, and translator who wrote in both Yiddish and Russian. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Because of the popularity of her Soviet children's books, they were translated into multiple languages. After 1971 she emigrated to Israel and published a number of books of poetry in Yiddish.
Boymvol was born in Odessa, Russian Empire on March 4, 1914. [6] [7] [3] She was the daughter of Judah-Leib Boymvol, a playwright and Yiddish theatre director who was murdered in 1920 by anti- Bolshevik Polish soldiers during the Polish-soviet war. [6] He and members of his touring Yiddish theatre were pulled off the train at Koziatyn which was then under Polish control; he and troupe members Epstein and Liebert were killed in front of their families. [8] [9] [3] Rachel was also injured in the attack and remained bedridden for several years after. [10] [2] Rachel grew up in a culture fluent in both Yiddish and Russian and showed an aptitude for rhyming and storytelling from a young age. [6] She began to write at age six; at around this time she and her mother relocated to Moscow. [10] Her first Yiddish poems were published in a Komsomol magazine when she was nine. [3] Her first published book was a book of children's songs entitled Kinder-lider, published in 1930 with the support of Shmuel Galkin. [2] [11] She then studied in the Jewish department at the Second Moscow State University; she met her husband, Ziame Telesin, while in Moscow and they were married there. [12] [3] After they graduated in 1935 they were sent to work in Minsk, where she quickly became well-known as a children's literature author. [6] [2] [10]
During World War II, she went with her family to Tashkent, except for her husband who enlisted in the Red Army; it was during the war the she began to publish in Russian. [3] [12] [2] [7] She later wrote, "The Bolsheviks saved me from death, and I was a fervent Bolshevik. I drew five-cornered stars, but also six-cornered, Jewish ones, because the Bolsheviks loved Jews and would give us a country that would be called Yidland. In my head was a confusion that would last many years..." [13] After the war she settled in Moscow, and starting in 1948 she published many poems, children's songs, and stories in Russian, as well as translating from Yiddish to Russian, including a novel by Moshe Kulbak in 1960. [14] [4] [2] Her dozens of books and pamphlets of Russian-language children's songs and short stories became very popular, with some reaching a circulation of a million copies. [5] [3] From 1961 onwards, she became a regular contributor to the Yiddish-language journal Sovyetish Heymland, both in original pieces and in translations of Soviet poetry. [6] [15]
Boymvol's son Julius, who was a dissident, applied to emigrate to Israel in 1969. [2] His parents decided to follow him, and in 1971 Rachel was allowed to emigrate to Israel. She left as part of a large wave of Soviet Jewish writers who settled in Jerusalem, which also included Meir Kharats, Yosef Kerler, and Dovid Sfard. [16] [17] [18] Her husband was able to follow her there during Passover 1972. [12] After arriving there, she lost her main source of income which was writing children's books, and she turned increasingly to publishing books of Yiddish poetry. [4] [11] She also continued to publish in Russian, and some of her Yiddish collections were translated into Hebrew during the following decades by Shelomo Even-Shoshan. [6]
Rachel Boymvol, sometimes spelled Baumwoll ( Russian: Рахиль Львовна Баумволь, Yiddish: רחל בױמװאָל, Hebrew: רחל בוימוול, March 4, 1914, Odessa - June 16, 2000, Jerusalem) was a Soviet poet, children's book author, and translator who wrote in both Yiddish and Russian. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Because of the popularity of her Soviet children's books, they were translated into multiple languages. After 1971 she emigrated to Israel and published a number of books of poetry in Yiddish.
Boymvol was born in Odessa, Russian Empire on March 4, 1914. [6] [7] [3] She was the daughter of Judah-Leib Boymvol, a playwright and Yiddish theatre director who was murdered in 1920 by anti- Bolshevik Polish soldiers during the Polish-soviet war. [6] He and members of his touring Yiddish theatre were pulled off the train at Koziatyn which was then under Polish control; he and troupe members Epstein and Liebert were killed in front of their families. [8] [9] [3] Rachel was also injured in the attack and remained bedridden for several years after. [10] [2] Rachel grew up in a culture fluent in both Yiddish and Russian and showed an aptitude for rhyming and storytelling from a young age. [6] She began to write at age six; at around this time she and her mother relocated to Moscow. [10] Her first Yiddish poems were published in a Komsomol magazine when she was nine. [3] Her first published book was a book of children's songs entitled Kinder-lider, published in 1930 with the support of Shmuel Galkin. [2] [11] She then studied in the Jewish department at the Second Moscow State University; she met her husband, Ziame Telesin, while in Moscow and they were married there. [12] [3] After they graduated in 1935 they were sent to work in Minsk, where she quickly became well-known as a children's literature author. [6] [2] [10]
During World War II, she went with her family to Tashkent, except for her husband who enlisted in the Red Army; it was during the war the she began to publish in Russian. [3] [12] [2] [7] She later wrote, "The Bolsheviks saved me from death, and I was a fervent Bolshevik. I drew five-cornered stars, but also six-cornered, Jewish ones, because the Bolsheviks loved Jews and would give us a country that would be called Yidland. In my head was a confusion that would last many years..." [13] After the war she settled in Moscow, and starting in 1948 she published many poems, children's songs, and stories in Russian, as well as translating from Yiddish to Russian, including a novel by Moshe Kulbak in 1960. [14] [4] [2] Her dozens of books and pamphlets of Russian-language children's songs and short stories became very popular, with some reaching a circulation of a million copies. [5] [3] From 1961 onwards, she became a regular contributor to the Yiddish-language journal Sovyetish Heymland, both in original pieces and in translations of Soviet poetry. [6] [15]
Boymvol's son Julius, who was a dissident, applied to emigrate to Israel in 1969. [2] His parents decided to follow him, and in 1971 Rachel was allowed to emigrate to Israel. She left as part of a large wave of Soviet Jewish writers who settled in Jerusalem, which also included Meir Kharats, Yosef Kerler, and Dovid Sfard. [16] [17] [18] Her husband was able to follow her there during Passover 1972. [12] After arriving there, she lost her main source of income which was writing children's books, and she turned increasingly to publishing books of Yiddish poetry. [4] [11] She also continued to publish in Russian, and some of her Yiddish collections were translated into Hebrew during the following decades by Shelomo Even-Shoshan. [6]