Sholem Asch, one of the major figures in Yiddish letters, was born in Kutno, near Warsaw, Poland, in 1880. He began writing in 1901, first in Hebrew, then in Yiddish. His early, quietly humorous stories of Jewish small-town life brought Yiddish literature to international notice. His epic novels and plays dealt with the contemporary scene and the Jewish experience on a worldwide scale.
The range and reach of his talent were wide; his collected works appeared in Yiddish in 29 volumes. Many of his works have been translated into English, but some translations are now out of print. Asch spent most of his last two years in Bat Yam near Tel Aviv, Israel (although he died in London). His house in Bat Yam is now the Sholem Asch Museum. The bulk of his library, containing rare Yiddish books and manuscripts, including the manuscripts of some of his own works, is held at Yale University.
Asch died in 1957.
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