![]() ![]() Lazarus was born to an assimilated family of wealthy New York Jews who had lived in the United States for at least four generations. Even with this book, and other studies of Emma Lazarus, she remains a complex and elusive figure. Schor's biography, while not constituting the last word on Emma Lazarus, fulfills its goal of showing why Lazarus is worth knowing. Although Schor's book includes a substantial amount of analysis of Lazarus's literary work, the focus of the book lies in bringing Emma Lazarus herself to life. ![]() But there is much more to Emma Lazarus than this great poem, as Schor convincingly demonstrates.Schor writes in an accessible, colloquial style that shows great affection and understanding for Lazarus. Her biography of Emma Lazarus is part of a series of books called "Jewish Encounters" edited by Jonathan Rosen and "devoted to the promotion of Jewish literature, culture, and ideas."Įmma Lazarus is known to most readers only as the author of the sonnet "The New Colossus" which ultimately achieved iconic status with its inscription on the Statue of Liberty. Schor is Professor of English at Princeton University, a poet in her own right, and the editor of the Cambridge Companion to Mary Shelley. With the words of the title of this review, Esther Schor introduces the reader to Emma Lazarus (1849 -1887)in her newly-published biography of this late-nineteenth Century American poet, essayist, novelist, critic, and social activist for newly-arrived immigrants. In this groundbreaking biography, Schor argues persuasively for Lazarus’s place in history as a poet, an activist, and a prophet of the world we all inhabit today–a world that she helped to invent. Her compassion for the downtrodden Jews of Eastern Europe–-refugees whose lives had little in common with her own–-helped redefine the meaning of America itself. Although she once referred to her family as “outlaw” Jews, she felt a deep attachment to Jewish history and peoplehood. Born into a wealthy Sephardic family in 1849, Lazarus published her first volume of verse at seventeen and gained entrée into New York’s elite literary circles. She was a woman so far ahead of her time that we are still scrambling to catch up with her–-a feminist, a Zionist, and an internationally famous Jewish American writer before these categories even existed.ĭrawing upon a cache of personal letters undiscovered until the 1980s, Esther Schor brings this vital woman to life in all her complexity. In 1924, the Statue of Liberty was declared a national monument.The definitive biography of the poet whose sonnet "The New Colossus" appears on the base of the Statue of Liberty, welcoming immigrants to their new home.Įmma Lazarus’s most famous poem gave a voice to the Statue of Liberty, but her remarkable life has remained a mystery until now. It was later inscribed in bronze beneath the statue and has come to symbolize a universal message of hope and freedom for immigrants coming to America. In 1883, Lazarus wrote The New Colossus for an auction to raise money for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal. She was an important forerunner of the Zionist movement, having argued for the creation of a Jewish homeland thirteen years before the term Zionist was even coined. ![]() Through her 1882-1883 essays in the Century, Lazarus put forth the notion of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. It was celebrated by many as her best work and consisted of Jewish-themed poems and a lyric drama. In the 1880s, considered as perhaps her most productive period, Lazarus published Songs of a Semite: The Dance to Death and Other Poems. Lazarus often used her writings to advocate against anti-Semitism and for the creation of a Jewish homeland. In fact, Lazarus viewed Emerson as a mentor throughout much of her early career. Lazarus’s growing position as part of New York’s literary elite afforded her the opportunities to interact with and gain inspiration from notable authors like George Eliot and Ralph Waldo Emerson. As a teenage author, Lazarus enjoyed the emotional and financial support of her father, a successful sugar merchant. Lazarus was an enthusiastic student who immersed herself in many subjects, including the study of literature, languages and the arts. Although best known for penning this sonnet, Lazarus was also a novelist, playwright, teacher and translator. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” These famous words from The New Colossus were written by Emma Lazarus, one of the first successful Jewish American authors. ![]()
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