Born in Czernowitz, Bukovina, his first poem was published in 1921 in a Romanian Yiddish journal. He continued to pen volumes of poetry, of which his "Humesh Lider" - in which biblical figures are portrayed as Jews living in the shtetl - became extremely popular. His "Megille Lider", a Purim play, was set to music in 1967 and ran for many performances in Israel.

In World War II he escaped to England, where he lived until 1951, when he moved to New York and in 1967 to Israel. He wrote in many genres including poetry, a novel and short stories.

 

Bibliography:

Itzik MANGER: Oisgeklibene Shriften. Pp. 380. [Buenos Aires]: Josef Lipshitz - Fond fun Literatur-Gezelshaft baim YIWO, 1970

Itzik MANGER: Megille Lider. Pp. 68. [Tel Aviv]: Amikam, 1966

Itzik MANGER: Midrash Itzik. Pp. 200. Tel Aviv: Y.L. Peretz, 1990

Itzik MANGER: Lid un Balade. Pp. 486. New York: Itzik Manger Komitet, 1952

Itzik MANGER: Shirim veBaladot. Pp. 262. [Tel Aviv]: Al HaMishmar, 1968 (in Hebrew)

Marie B. JAFFE, comp: Ten for posterity; an anthology of Yiddish poems, by Itzik Manger and others. Translated and compiled by Marie B. Jaffe. Pp. 143. New York: Exposition Press, [1972]

Links:

Songs on lyrics by Itzik Manger on the Web