Mendele Mocher Sforim

Portrait of Mendele Mocher Sforim

Mendele Mocher Sforim (Yiddish: מענדעלע מוכר ספֿרים, Hebrew: מנדלי מוכר ספרים; lit. "Mendele the book peddler"; January 2, 1836, Kapyl – December 8, 1917 [N.S.], Odessa), born Sholem Yankev Abramovich (Yiddish: שלום יעקבֿ אַבראַמאָװיטש, Russian: Соломон Моисеевич Абрамович, romanizedSolomon Moiseyevich Abramovich) or S. J. Abramowitch, was a Jewish author and one of the founders of modern Yiddish and Hebrew literature. His name was variously transliterated as Moykher, Sfarim,Seforim, etc.