Abraham Riesen, noted Yiddish poet and writer, died here today after an illness of several months. He was 77 years old. Funeral services will be held Sunday at the Roosevelt Auditorium.
Reisen was born in Kaidanoff, near Minsk, Russia. His first poem was published in Der Yiddisher Bibliotek when he was 15 years old. A year later his first volume of short stories was published.
By the time he migrated to the United States in 1914, Reisen had an international reputation as a poet and short-story writer and his works had appeared in many languages. Much of his work first appeared in the Forward, of which he was a staff member, the Zukunft and other publications. He wrote in Hebrew and Russian as well as in Yiddish.
Abraham Reisen was regarded as one of the foremost Yiddish lyric poets and short-story writers and his name was generally associated by critics with the great figures of Yiddish literature. He was one of the most popular of all contemporary Yiddish writers.
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