Zygmunt Turkow was a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 actor, director, playwright and director of Jewish origin from Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, who became famous for roles in the pre-war Jewish films and stage plays in Yiddish. His brother, Jonas Turkow

Jonas Turkow

Jonas Turkow was born in 1898 in Warsaw, Poland and died in 1987 in Tel Aviv, Israel. He was an actor, stage manager, director and writer.He was the brother of the actor Zygmunt Turkow, the actor and writer Icchak Turkow and the journalist Marek Turkow, and husband of the famous actress Diana...

, was also a noted actor and stage manager.

Shortly after German invasion of Poland in 1939 he left Poland together with his second wife. In 1940 he settled in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. In 1952 he moved to Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

.

Turkow produced works by Iso Szajewicz

Iso Szajewicz

Iso Szajewicz, 1910-1941, Polish Jewish composer and conductor born in Kutno, Poland while his parents, Dineh and Yusef Shayevitsh, Yiddish actors, were on the road with a wandering Jewish theater troupe. He was raised by his step-father, the actor Avrom Kurtz...

 at the Novoshchi Theatre where he worked for many years.
He was the founder of several notable theatres, the Central Theatre in 1921, co-founder of the Brazilian National Theatre in 1940 and the traveling Zuta Theatre in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...

, Israel in 1956, where he served as manager and director.

Zygmunt Turkow Theatre is named in his honor.