Eliakum Zunser
Eliakum Zunser (also: Eliakim Zunser called: Eliakim Badchen; * on October 28, 1835 - according to other sources born in 1836 or 1840 - in Vilnius, † 22 September 1913 in New York) was a Russian Yiddish folk singer.
He was the son of a poor carpenter's, got the usual strict religious upbringing, but early on he was interested in parallel for the education literature, whose themes he reproduced in self-written songs.
He learned a craft, but also worked as a private tutor and continued to write songs that were popular soon, so he settled in 1861 as a wedding singer in Vilnius. In the same year he was a first collection of his songs under the title Schirim chadaschim ( " New songs " ) out, which spread quickly and were sung at weddings and other " Simches " ( family gatherings )
In 1871, his four children died within three days of the cholera epidemic, his wife also died of cholera shortly after the two had moved to Minsk.
In 1889 he moved to the USA where he continued to write songs that appeared in the daily newspaper, the People's Advocate and a separate edition (1901 ). In 1894 he had opened a print shop in New York that kept him reasonably economically afloat.
1905 were held on his 50th anniversary as a folk singer in New York festivities, on this occasion published his autobiography in Yiddish ( with English translation).
The surviving children reported in 1921, a three-volume collection of his songs, including the autobiography out again. Overall, published today in several countries over 60 different collections of his songs in repeated runs ( the titles like for example: " earthwork "; " Hibbat Zion "; " Tainted Education "; " Haskalah ", "luxury", " Reiner faith ").
Eliakum Zunser and his songs that knew how committed to the goals of the Enlightenment, Zionism, and social justice and bear witness to a great love for Judaism, were extremely popular and popular, they were common and were sung and handed down from the broad masses of the people of Eastern Jewry which ceased to exist with the Holocaust quasi.