23 Facts About Anzia Yezierska

Anzia Yezierska was an American novelist born in Plock, Poland, which was then part of the Russian Empire.

Anzia Yezierska emigrated as a child with her parents to the United States and lived in Manhattan's Lower East Side ghetto.

The Anzia Yezierska family emigrated to the United States in the early 1890s, following in the footsteps of her eldest brother, who had arrived in the States a few years prior.

Anzia Yezierska's father was a scholar of the Torah and sacred texts.

Anzia Yezierska's parents encouraged her brothers to pursue higher education, but believed Anzia and her sisters had to support their husbands and families.

Anzia Yezierska rebelled against the role she was thrust into, and left home in 1900.

Anzia Yezierska lived for a while at the Clara de Hirsch Home for Working Girls, where she studied domestic science.

Anzia Yezierska won a scholarship in the domestic science program at Columbia Teachers College, which she attended until 1905.

Anzia Yezierska was the father of her only child, Louise, born in May 1912.

Around 1914, Anzia Yezierska left Levitas and moved with her daughter to San Francisco, where she was employed as a social worker.

Overwhelmed with the chores and responsibilities of working while raising a daughter, Anzia Yezierska gave up maternal rights and transferred custody to Levitas.

Anzia Yezierska was encouraged by her sister to pursue her longtime interest in writing.

Anzia Yezierska devoted the remainder of her life to it.

Anzia Yezierska was the aunt of American film critic Cecelia Ager.

Anzia Yezierska died November 21,1970, of a stroke in a nursing home in Ontario, California.

Anzia Yezierska wrote about the struggles of Jewish and later Puerto Rican immigrants in New York City's ghettos.

Anzia Yezierska attracted more critical praise about a year later when another tale, "Where Lovers Dream", appeared in Metropolitan.

Anzia Yezierska wrote several stories and finished a novel while serving as a fellow.

Anzia Yezierska began writing it in 1962 at age 81.

Anzia Yezierska had stories, articles, and book reviews published until her death in California in 1970.

Anzia Yezierska was uncomfortable with being touted as a symbol of the American Dream.

Frustrated by the shallowness of Hollywood and by her own alienation, Anzia Yezierska returned to New York by 1925.

Anzia Yezierska continued publishing novels and stories about immigrant women struggling to establish their identities in America.