Mendele, Mokher Sefarim (1836–1917)

Russian writer, born in Belarus, who wrote in both Yiddish and Hebrew. He has been called ‘the grandfather of Yiddish literature’. At first, he preferred the flexibility of Yiddish, and used it as the medium for many short stories and satirical plays, which helped establish a standard literary form of that language. He then turned to Hebrew and in 1868 published the novel Ha-avot we-ha-vanim/Fathers and Sons.

Mendele devised a new form of Hebrew, which incorporated many earlier styles, and in this he rewrote some of his former Yiddish works. Kitsur massous Binyomin hashlishi/The Travels and Adventures of Benjamin the Third 1875 is a survey of Jewish life in Russia.