Miriam Hoffman
Encyclopedia
Miriam Hoffman (born 1936), has been a lecturer of Yiddish language at Columbia University
since 1993.
Hoffman was born in Lodz, Poland to a Yiddish-speaking family. While she was a child, her father was sent to a forced labor camp in Siberia
, accompanied by Hoffman and her mother. After a difficult passage through several other countries, the family arrived in the US during 1949. In 1957 finished the Jewish Teacher's Seminary with a BA in pedagogy
. In the 1970s taught Yiddish at the University of Tel-Aviv, Israel. Received a B.A. from the University of Miami, cum laude in 1981. An M.A. from Columbia University in 1983. From 1991-1994 taught Yiddish and Yiddish Dramatic Arts at Oxford University Summer Program.
For the last 20 years, columnist and feature writer for the Jewish Forward
, where she has published over two thousand articles. Also edited a monthly literary supplement for the Jewish Forward. In 1992 she won a Tony Award
for her English-to-Yiddish translation of Neil Simon
's The Sunshine Boys
.
, with ten Yiddish plays to her name, produced and performed both at the N. Y. Shakespeare Festival and the Joseph Papp Theater, off-Broadway at the Astor Theater, the John Houseman Theater, the 92nd St. Y, with productions in major American and European cities, among them: Amsterdam, Zurich, Munich, Dresden, Regensburg and Warsaw, Poland. Original plays staged at The Folksbiene
Yiddish Theater in New York, the Jewish Repertory Theater-Playhouse 91, Center for Jewish History
, the Sadye Bronfman Theater in Montreal, Canada, Akzent Theater in Vienna, Austria and the Yiddishpiel Theater in Tel-Aviv, Israel. 1992 Tony Award
for translation into Yiddish of Neil Simon
's The Sunshine Boys
.
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
since 1993.
Hoffman was born in Lodz, Poland to a Yiddish-speaking family. While she was a child, her father was sent to a forced labor camp in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, accompanied by Hoffman and her mother. After a difficult passage through several other countries, the family arrived in the US during 1949. In 1957 finished the Jewish Teacher's Seminary with a BA in pedagogy
Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
. In the 1970s taught Yiddish at the University of Tel-Aviv, Israel. Received a B.A. from the University of Miami, cum laude in 1981. An M.A. from Columbia University in 1983. From 1991-1994 taught Yiddish and Yiddish Dramatic Arts at Oxford University Summer Program.
For the last 20 years, columnist and feature writer for the Jewish Forward
The Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
, where she has published over two thousand articles. Also edited a monthly literary supplement for the Jewish Forward. In 1992 she won a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for her English-to-Yiddish translation of Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's The Sunshine Boys
The Sunshine Boys
The Sunshine Boys is a play by Neil Simon that was produced on Broadway in 1972 and later adapted for film and television.-Plot:The play focuses on aging Al Lewis and Willy Clark, a one-time vaudevillian team known as "Lewis and Clark" who, over the course of forty-odd years, not only grew to hate...
.
Playwright
She is a playwrightPlaywright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, with ten Yiddish plays to her name, produced and performed both at the N. Y. Shakespeare Festival and the Joseph Papp Theater, off-Broadway at the Astor Theater, the John Houseman Theater, the 92nd St. Y, with productions in major American and European cities, among them: Amsterdam, Zurich, Munich, Dresden, Regensburg and Warsaw, Poland. Original plays staged at The Folksbiene
Folksbiene
The National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene is a professional theater company in New York City which produces both Yiddish plays and plays translated into Yiddish, in a theater equipped with simultaneous superscript translation into English...
Yiddish Theater in New York, the Jewish Repertory Theater-Playhouse 91, Center for Jewish History
Center for Jewish History
The Center for Jewish History is a partnership, or consortium, of five Jewish organizations based in Manhattan. It is a partnership of five organizations of Jewish history, scholarship, and art: the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, the...
, the Sadye Bronfman Theater in Montreal, Canada, Akzent Theater in Vienna, Austria and the Yiddishpiel Theater in Tel-Aviv, Israel. 1992 Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for translation into Yiddish of Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
's The Sunshine Boys
The Sunshine Boys
The Sunshine Boys is a play by Neil Simon that was produced on Broadway in 1972 and later adapted for film and television.-Plot:The play focuses on aging Al Lewis and Willy Clark, a one-time vaudevillian team known as "Lewis and Clark" who, over the course of forty-odd years, not only grew to hate...
.