Miriam Ulinover


Manya Hirshbeyn, known primarily as Miriam Ulinover or Miryem 'Ulinover', was a Yiddish-language poet. She is regarded for her folkloristic style and for being one of few religious and Orthodox Jewish women poets of her time.

Personal life

Ulinover was born on 22 February 1890 in Łódź to parents Shimen and Sheyndl Hirshbeyn. Her parents divorced in 1905. She spent some of her childhood with her maternal grandfather, Talmudic scholar Shaye Gerzon, in the shtetl Krzepice. Ulinover, however, lived for the majority of her life in Łódź.

Writing career

Sholem Aleichem inspired Ulinover to start writing when he met her in Łódź in 1905. Ulinover is known for writing folk poetry and is renowned for being one of few religiously observant Jewish women to write poetry.
Some of Ulinover's poetry was featured in Ezra Korman's 1928 collection of Yiddish women poetry titled Yidishe dikhterins.
In 1922, Ulinover published her own book of poetry with the help of David Frischmann, titled Der bobes oytser.

Literary gatherings

Before the war, Ulinover started a salon, bringing other renowned Yiddish writers to her home. Some of her interlocutors included Chaim Leib Fox, Rikuda Potash, Mirl Erdberg-Shatan, Simkha-Bunim Shayevitsh, Yeshayahu Shpigl, Alter Shnur, Rachmil Bryks, and Yitskhok Goldkorn. After being interned in the Łódź Ghetto in 1940, she continued to host her literary gatherings.

Death and legacy

On 18 August 1944, Ulinover was deported to Auschwitz upon the Łódź Ghetto's liquidation and murdered in a gas chamber after arrival. While it is believed that she continued to write in the ghetto, many of her manuscripts are reported to have been lost during the Holocaust.