18 Facts About Jacob Dinezon

Jacob Dinezon is credited as the author of the first bestselling novel in Yiddish and the first realistic Jewish romance.

Jacob Dinezon was a keen observer of the social changes spreading throughout Jewish communities in his time.

Jacob Dinezon was born in Nay Zhager near Kovno in Lithuania.

Jacob Dinezon grew up in a relatively well-to-do household with his parents, Pessie and Benjamin, two older sisters, one younger sister, and a brother.

Jacob Dinezon's father died in 1866, when Dinezon was about 12.

Jacob Dinezon was then raised by his uncle in Mohilev, where he attended a yeshiva until age 16.

Jacob Dinezon had the chance to study Russian, German, and disciplines such as mathematics, history, and science.

Jacob Dinezon supported the development of the new Hebrew language, but despite his Enlightenment-oriented education, he developed an interest in Yiddish as a medium of culture and literature.

In 1868, Jacob Dinezon was employed as a Hebrew tutor in a prominent family in Mohilev named Horowitz which gave him the opportunity to further his secular education.

Jacob Dinezon eventually became a trusted advisor, business agent, and estate manager for the Horowitz family.

The first edition sold out quickly, and even Jacob Dinezon had difficulty obtaining a copy.

The success of The Dark Young Man did not receive the acceptance that Jacob Dinezon desired from the members of the Jewish Enlightenment world whom he had hoped to impress, because he had written the novel in Yiddish instead of Hebrew.

Between 1899 and 1902, Jacob Dinezon published several stories and feuilletons in the Yiddish newspaper Der Yid.

In 1906, in the aftermath of the failed Russian Revolution of January 1905, Jacob Dinezon turned down an offer from Johan Paley, editor of the New York Yiddish newspaper Yidishes Tageblatt, to travel to America to conduct a speaking tour.

The final five years of Jacob Dinezon's life were filled with sadness and loss.

Jacob Dinezon remembered the child that was sad the day before, and if today the child was lively again, it was for him truly a celebration.

Jacob Dinezon died on Friday, August 29,1919 in his home at Karmelica 29 where he was surrounded by family and several members of the Warsaw literary community.

Jacob Dinezon gave away everything to them, he was not concerned about himself, he allowed nothing for himself.