Vigoda, Samuel

views updated

VIGODA, SAMUEL

VIGODA, SAMUEL (1895–1990), ?azzan. Vigoda, one of the star ?azzanim of the Golden Age, was born in Dubrozin, Poland, but the family moved to Hungary, where his father was ?azzan. He studied at the yeshivot of Galante and Pressburg and as a child lived for two and a half years with the famous?azzan, Yossele *Rosenblatt; later he also learned music at the conservatories of Klausenberg and Budapest as well as medicine at the university there. After serving as ?azzan to the Arena Temple in Budapest, he immigrated to the United States in 1933, where he served as ?azzan to important congregations in New York and Washington, including Rosenblatt's Oheb Zedek, the position that was given to him following Rosenblatt's untimely death. He published many articles on the history of ?azzanut in Europe and the United States and produced many records. In 1980 he was given an award by the ?azzanim Farband of America and Canada. In 1981, Vigoda published Legendary Voices in English, which contains material concerning Ashkenazi ?azzanim.

[Akiva Zimmerman /

Raymond Goldstein (2nd ed.)]

More From encyclopedia.com