Ettinger, Solomon
ETTINGER, SOLOMON
ETTINGER, SOLOMON (Shloyme ; 1803–1856), Yiddish poet and dramatist. Born in Warsaw, orphaned, and then raised in Leczna by his paternal uncle, Ettinger moved to Zamosc after marrying Golda, the daughter of magnate Judah Leib Wolf, where he was influenced by the Haskalah. He studied pharmacy and medicine in Lemberg (Lvov) – where he discovered the writer in himself – and practiced medicine, despite difficulties with certification in Poland. Although he knew both Hebrew and German, he chose to write in Yiddish, attempting to create his own literary style. The influence of Lessing, Buerger, and other German writers can be traced in his works, and he was also influenced by the Yiddish comedies of Isaac *Euchel and Aaron *Wolfsohn-Halle. Ettinger wrote satirical and witty ballads, epigrams, poems, and dramas. His fables (mesholim) reflect an influence by the Maggid of Dubno (see Jacob ben Wolf *Kranz), who left his imprint on Zamosc with this genre in the early 19th century. Ettinger concentrated on individual problems rather than on the contemporary ones with which Haskalah literature generally concerned itself. He influenced not only Abraham *Goldfaden but also Sholem Yankev *Abramovitsh and later writers. In his play, Serkele, he portrays an ambitious woman who pursues wealth and power and gives a vivid picture of the local environment and customs. He starkly outlines the foibles and passions of the fledgling urban Jewish bourgeoisie, foreshadowing his great heir in this genre, Isaac Bashevis *Singer. He also wrote two unfinished plays: Der Feter fun Amerika ("The American Uncle") and Di Freylekhe Yungelayt ("The Jolly Young People").
Because of censorship, the only piece to appear in his lifetime was a short Hebrew poem (1837); but some of his fables and poems were posthumously published. His son, W. Ettinger, a well-known Russian publisher, brought out his Mesholim in St. Petersburg (1889, 18902). The definitive edition of his works, Ale Ksovim fun Dr. Shloyme Ettinger ("Collected Works of Dr. Shloyme Ettinger"), in two volumes, edited by Max Weinreich, was published in Vilna in 1925; and his Geklibene Verk ("Selected Works"), edited by Max Erik, appeared in Kiev in 1935. In 1957 another selection, Oysgeklibene Shriften edited by S. Rollanski (Rozhansky), was published in Buenos Aires.
bibliography:
J. Leftwich, The Golden Peacock (1961), 693f.; Bloch, in: Journal of Jewish Bibliography, 1 (1938), 21f.; Rejzen, Leksikon, 2 (1927), 725–39; M. Weinreich, Bilder fun der Yidisher Literatur-Geshikhte (1928), 280–91; S. Niger, Yiddish Literature in the Past Two Hundred Years 3 (1952), 174–6; I. Zinberg, Geshikhte fun der Literatur bay Yidn, 8:2 (1937), 233–48.
[Elias Schulman /
Jack S. Berger (2nd ed.)]