Yankev Ber Gimpel
Yankev Ber Gimpel | |
|---|---|
יעקב בער גימפּעל | |
 I. B. Gimpel, undated | |
| Born | 1840 Lviv |
| Died | January 1906 (aged 65–66) Lviv |
| Occupations | choral singer, theatre operator |
| Years active | 1880s–1906 |
| Known for | operating Gimpel's Theatre in Lviv |
Yankev-Ber Gimpel (Yiddish: יעקב בער גימפּעל, 1840–1906), often known as I. B. Gimpel, opened and operated the first Yiddish theatre in Lviv, which was also the first permanent Yiddish theatre in the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia.
Biography
[edit]Gimpel was born in 1840 in Lviv, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (today in Ukraine).[1] Little is known about his early life. He was said to have a beautiful singing voice, and was a choral singer in Polish theatres in Lviv, including the prestigious Skarbek Theatre, for 40 years before launching his own theatre.[1][2][3] He had at least two sons: Emil, born 1867, would eventually take over the theatre, and Adolph, born 1875, became a well-known concert clarinetist.[3] Adolph's sons Karol and Bronislav became well-known concert pianists, and Jakob a violinist.[3]
Prior to Gimpel opening his theatre, Jewish theatres in Galicia mainly operated in German, and were only rarely given licenses to perform in Yiddish.[4] Yiddish theatrical performances in Galicia tended to be put on by touring troupes from Romania, or small-scale performances by Galician entertainers called Broder zingers.[3] In late 1888, due to being a well-known figure in the Polish theatre, he was able to obtain a concession from the civil authorities in Lviv to open the first Yiddish-language theatre in the city.[5][1] In fact, the original concession specified that the theatre should perform in German with an Austrian military band accompanying it, but Gimpel soon abandoned that for more authentically Yiddish acting and music.[3] The religious (frum) Jewish community in Lviv, as well as some communal Jewish institutions, objected to the opening of a permanent Jewish theatre in the city.[4][1]
Gimpel had a talent for recruiting strong actors from the local community for his new theatre.[5][2] He initially marketed it as a Polish-Jewish (אידיש־פּױליש טעאַטע or Teatr polsko-żydowski) theatre, but after objections from local Poles, he rebranded it as German-Jewish (דײטש־אידיש טעאַטער or Lemberger deutsch-jüdisches Theater).[1][2] Their early performances staged Russian plays and works of Abraham Goldfaden, who originally created the Yiddish theatre in Iași.[2][5] It received positive reviews in the local Polish press, and the shows became very popular among Jewish audiences.[6] Goldfaden, who had returned from New York in 1890, was brought in for a year to stage his own plays at Gimpel's Theatre and train local actors.[1] This early cohort included people who later became stars of the Yiddish Theatre in New York, such as Bertha Kalich, Regina Prager and Ludwig Satz.[4] Gimpel also invited a prominent klezmer musician and composer, Chune Wolfsthal, to attend Goldfaden's shows, and he was so impressed he joined the theatre.[7] However, Goldfaden and Gimpel didn't get along, and Goldfaden left for Bucharest.[2] In 1893, the theatre began to market itself as the Jüdisches Opern-theater (Jewish opera theatre).
The theatre's popularity only continued to increase, eventually becoming the most popular Yiddish theatre in Europe before the First World War.[3] Due to its fame, Gimpel had issues with being able to retain his star actors, as theatres in New York could easily entice them away.[2][3]
Yankev Ber died in Lviv in January 1906.[1] His son Emil took over operation of the theatre.[5][3][1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Zylberzweig, Zalmen; Mestel, Jacob (1931). Leḳsiḳon fun Yidishn ṭeaṭer volume 1 (in Yiddish). New York: Elisheva. p. 479.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gorin, B. (1929). Di geshikhte fun idishen teater : Tsvey toyzent yohr teater bay iden : ilustrirt (in Yiddish). New York: Forverts. pp. 142–7.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bechtel, Delphine (2011). "Le théâtre yiddish Gimpel de Lemberg : une Odyssée oubliée". Yod: Revue des études hébraïques et juives (in French). 16: 83–98. doi:10.4000/yod.659.
- 1 2 3 Turkow-Grudberg, Isaac (1951). Yidish ṭeaṭer in Poyln (in Yiddish). Warsaw: Yidish-bukh. pp. 16–8.
- 1 2 3 4 Richter, Moshe (19 March 1909). "Dos idishe teater in Lemberg". Dos Idishe Vokhenblat (in Yiddish). New York City. p. 5. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ "NADESŁANE". Kuryer Lwowski (in Polish). Lviv. 19 July 1889. p. 6. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ Perlmutter, Sholem (1952). Yidishe dramaṭurgn un ṭeaṭer ḳompoziṭors (in Yiddish). New York: IKUF. pp. 331–8.