Simon Frug

Who was Simon Frug?

Simon Frug was a multi-lingual Russian poet, lyricist and author.

He was born in Ukraine at the Jewish agricultural colony of Bobrovy-Kut, Kherson. During his youth he received religious training at his native village. At the age of 16 he began writing Russian poetry and was first published in 1880 in the Russophone Jewish magazine Razsvet. The following year he moved to St. Petersburg, where he became a prominent literary figure and began publishing regularly, albeit often under a pseudonym. His 1882 Legend of the Goblet won an important prize and, when translated into Yiddish by Isaac Leib Peretz, the song reached an international audience.

Shaken by the pogroms of 1881–1882, he joined the Hibbat Zion movement, and his poem Jewish Melody became an anthem to Russians seeking a Jewish state in Israel. In 1885 his first volume of poetry was released. His collected Yiddish poems were published in 1886 as Lieder und Gedanken. Additional volumes followed in 1890 and 1897. Some time after 1898 his fable Palma became available. His Zionistic songs were published in 1902.