Vera Hacken

Vera Hacken
Born
Vera Yakovlevna Altman

(1912-05-18)May 18, 1912
Odessa, Russian Empire
DiedNovember 2, 1988(1988-11-02) (aged 76)
Cliffside Park, New Jersey, US
Other namesVera Haken, Вера Хакен, װעראַ האַקען
OccupationsWriter, translator, poet, playwright, director

Vera Hacken (Russian: Вера Хакен, Yiddish: װעראַ האַקען‏‎; May 18, 1912 – November 2, 1988) was an American writer, translator, playwright, and theatrical director, born in Odessa.

Early life

Vera Yakovlevna Altman was born in Odessa, Russian Empire,[1] the daughter of Yakov Altman and Mani Altman. Her family was Jewish; her father was a doctor. She was raised in Chernivtsi.[2] She studied with director Max Reinhardt in Vienna,[3] and with writer Eliezer Steinbarg.[4][5]

Career

Altman taught school, worked as an editor, directed plays, and wrote in Yiddish and German[5] while living in Chernivtsi, Alma-Ata, Tashkent, Bucharest, and Munich. She moved to the United States in 1951.[1] In New York, she was a director for the Folksbine Jewish Theater.[6] Her plays were also produced in Latin America.[3] Her stories appeared in Tsukunft and Afn Shvel. Her poetry was collected in Dine Roitkop (1978), and her memoirs were published in Der Meteor (1980). She also translated Yiddish stories into German in Die Bücher der goldenen Pawe (6 volumes, 1980s).[7] She also wrote for television with Peter Goode.[8] "My great desire is to be discovered by my new home land, America," she told an interviewer in 1957. "I think I can work many years as a playwright and a stage director."[3] She was a mentor to young Jewish writers.[9]

Publications

  • Ḳinder-yorn: yugnṭ yorn miṭ Eliezer Shṭaynbarg (1969), also known as Kinder- und Jugendjahre mit Elieser Steinbarg[4][10]
  • Die Bücher der goldenen Pawe (6 volumes, 1980s)[7]
  • Sṭantsye Grafsḳaya: dertseylungen, eseyen, lider (1990, posthumous collection)[11]

Personal life

Altman married psychiatrist and composer Emanuel Hacken.[3] They had a son, George. In the United States, the Hackens lived on the grounds of the Rockland State Hospital while her husband was the hospital's deputy director.[1] Hacken and her husband became United States citizens by naturalization in 1956.[12] She died in Cliffside Park, New Jersey in 1988, aged 76 years. Several books of her poetry and other writings were published posthumously.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c Pollack, Chana (September 11, 2014). "Throwback Thursday: Yiddish Novelist Takes On Stalin's Terror". The Forward. Retrieved 2021-09-19.
  2. ^ Congress for Jewish Culture. "List of Yiddish Women Writers: Vera Haken". congressforjewishculture.org. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  3. ^ a b c d "City's Color, Beauty Inspire a New American Playwright; She Likes Poughkeepsie". Poughkeepsie Journal. 1957-01-27. pp. 1C. Retrieved 2025-10-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Hacken, Vera; Steinbarg, Elieser; Kostka, Jürgen (2014). Kinder- und Jugendjahre mit Elieser Steinbarg (in German). Rimbaud. ISBN 978-3-89086-417-4. OCLC 855556675.
  5. ^ a b Hirsch, Marianne; Spitzer, Leo (2010-01-19). Ghosts of Home: The Afterlife of Czernowitz in Jewish Memory. University of California Press. pp. 90–91. ISBN 978-0-520-94490-9.
  6. ^ Wilken, Jeanette (1952-12-22). "Folksbine Stages Fine 'Sambatian'". Daily News. p. 581. Retrieved 2025-10-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b Hacken, Vera. Die Bücher der goldenen Pawe (in German). Stuttgart: Ed. Weitbrecht in K. Thinemanns Verl. OCLC 935990400.
  8. ^ Library of Congress Copyright Office (1954). Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. p. 25.
  9. ^ Agosín, Marjorie (1999). Uncertain Travelers: Conversations with Jewish Women Immigrants to America. UPNE. p. 173. ISBN 978-0-87451-945-7.
  10. ^ האקען, ווערא (1969). קינדער־יארן: יוגנט־יארן מיט אליעזר שטיינבארג (in Yiddish). [תל אביב]: ‏י. ל. פרץ. OCLC 19313103.
  11. ^ a b Hacken, Vera; Andrée, Othmar; Andrée, Othmar (2020). Stanzje Grafskaja Novelle (in German). Epubli. ISBN 978-3-7502-6959-0. OCLC 1197345986.
  12. ^ "32 to Become Citizens in Naturalization Court". Poughkeepsie Journal. 1956-06-08. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-10-30 – via Newspapers.com.
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