Ury Benador
Ury Benador is the pen name of Simon Moise Grinberg, a Romanian playwright and prose writer.
Early life, family and education
Grinberg was born in Mihăileni, Botoșani County, Romania. His parents were Moise Fridl, a Yiddish-language writer, and his wife Liba.Career
A self-educated man, his first published work was a one-act play that appeared in the Iași Lumea in 1924. This was subsequently included in his first book, 5 acte. Magazines that ran his work include Viața Românească. Lumea literară, Rampa, Revista Fundațiilor Regale, Albina and Gazeta literară.His prose works are documentary and analytical in nature, aiming to capture on their canvas the social and moral environment of Romanian Jewish society in the first half of the 20th century.
Activities beyond writing
He was a member of the Sburătorul circle. In 1939, he took part in a congress of intellectuals for peace held in Paris. A leftist, he became a leader of the pro-Romanian Communist Party Jewish Democratic Committee soon after World War II.In 1948, after the establishment of a communist regime, he was part of the first leadership committee of the Romanian Writers' Union. Until 1955, he was secretary of the State Jewish Theater.