Miriam Shomer Zunser
Miriam Shomer Zunser was an American journalist, playwright and artist. She was a significant promoter of Jewish culture prior to World War II.
Life
Shomer was born Manya Shaikevitsch in Odessa, Russian Empire, to Nokhem Mayer Shaikevitsch, a novelist and playwright, and his wife Dinneh Bercinsky. Her family emigrated in 1889 to New York. She was known by her nickname, Minnie. After graduating high school she worked as a librarian while attending art classes taught by Henry McBride at the Educational Alliance.In the 1920s, Zunser began writing Yiddish theater, sometimes cowriting with her sister Rose. As Yiddish theater lost popularity in the 1930s, Zunser began writing in English for the Broadway stage.
In 1932 Zunser was a co-founder and initial president of MAILAMM, the America-Palestine Institute of Musical Sciences, a society for the study and promotion of Jewish music in Palestine and the United States. Later, she was treasurer of the.
Having worked with Henrietta Szold, she was the founder of the Brooklyn chapter of Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America. She also was a delegate to the American Jewish Congress in 1917.
Zunser died in New York City.