Miriam Shomer Zunser

Miriam Shomer Zunser (November 25, 1882 – October 11, 1951) was an American journalist, playwright and artist. She was a significant promoter of Jewish culture prior to World War II.[1]

Miriam Shomer Zunser
Miriam Zunzer
Born
Manya Shaikevitsch

November 25, 1882
Odessa, Ukraine
DiedOctober 11, 1951
New York City
NationalityAmerican
SpouseCharles Zunser
ParentNokhem Mayer Shaikevitsch (father)
RelativesAnna Shomer Rothenberg (sister)
Rose Shomer Bachelis (sister)
Abraham Shomer (brother)

Life

Shomer was born Manya Shaikevitsch in Odessa, Russian Empire, to Nokhem Mayer Shaikevitsch, a novelist and playwright, and his wife Dinneh Bercinsky. Her family emigrated in 1889 to New York. She was known by her nickname, Minnie.[2] After graduating high school she worked as a librarian while attending art classes taught by Henry McBride at the Educational Alliance.[1]

In the 1920s, Zunser began writing Yiddish theater, sometimes cowriting with her sister Rose. As Yiddish theater lost popularity in the 1930s, Zunser began writing in English for the Broadway stage.[2]

In 1932 Zunser was a co-founder and initial president of MAILAMM, the America-Palestine Institute of Musical Sciences (known by its Hebrew acronym), a society for the study and promotion of Jewish music in Palestine and the United States.[1][3] Later, she was treasurer of the Jewish Music Forum.[4]

Having worked with Henrietta Szold, she was the founder of the Brooklyn chapter of Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America. She also was a delegate to the American Jewish Congress in 1917.

Zunser died in New York City.

Personal

In 1905 she married Charles Zunser, son of the poet Eliakum Zunser. They had three children.[1] Her sister was the Yiddish folksinger Anna Shomer Rothenberg.

Publications
  • The master of Thronfield; a play in 4 acts, built on the story of Jane Eyre. 192?. With Rose Shomer.[2]
  • Fortune's fool; a musical comedy in two acts and four scenes. New York: 192?[5]
  • A child's kingdom. New York: 192?[6]
  • Goldenlocks and the bears. New York: 192?[7]
  • Yesterday : a memoir of a Russian Jewish family. Published in 1939 by Stackpole Sons. Republished in 1978 by Harper & Row.[8]
  • Avinu Shomer (אבינו שמ״ר). Yerushalayim: Aḥiʼasaf, 1953.[9]

References
  1. Goldstein, Eric L. "Zunser, Miriam Shomer". Jewish Women in America: an Historical Encyclopedia (New York: Routledge, 1997), vol. 2, p. 1549-1550. Published online via Jewish Women's Archive. jwa.org. March 1, 2009.
  2. "archives.nypl.org -- Miriam Shomer Zunser papers". archives.nypl.org. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  3. "About Us". American Society for Jewish Music. jewishmusic-asjm.org. Retrieved 2017-08-06.
  4. "Miriam Zunser, Author and Play Wright, Dead; Impressive Funeral Held". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. October 15, 1951.
  5. Zunser, Miriam S, and Rose S. Bachelis. Fortune's Fool: A Musical Comedy in Two Acts and Four Scenes. New York, 1920.
  6. Zunser, Miriam Shomer; Badanes, Ida. The child's kingdom; a play in one act. [New York]. OCLC 44707068.
  7. Zunser, Miriam Shomer; Badanes, Ida. Goldenlocks and the bears; a drama for children, old and young, in four acts. [New York]. OCLC 44707209.
  8. Zunser, Miriam Shomer; Leider, Emily Wortis (1978-01-01). Yesterday: a memoir of a Russian Jewish family. New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 0060125535.
  9. Bachelis, Rose Shomer; Zunser, Miriam Shomer; Ṿaisman, Aharon (1953-01-01). אבינו שמ״ר / (in Hebrew). ירושלים: אחיאסף. OCLC 19146464.
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