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Miriam Bernstein-Cohen

(1895-1991)

BERNSTEIN-COHEN, MIRIAM (1895–1991), actress and pioneer of the theater in Israel. Born in Romania, the daughter of Jacob *Bernstein-Kogan , she was educated in Russia and took a degree in medicine. Turning to the stage she worked for a time in the Russian theater. In 1921 she went to Palestine and joined David Davidow's (d. 1976) company known as the "Hebrew Theater." When the group dissolved in 1923, she and other members went to Germany to study stage work. In Berlin she met Menahem *Gnessin and helped him to organize the Teatron Ereẓ Israeli. She returned with the company to Palestine in 1924 and worked with it until its merger with the *Habimah Theater a few years later. Subsequently she appeared with various companies, gave solo performances in Palestine and abroad, and eventually joined the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv. She translated plays and stories by de Maupassant, Tolstoy, Henri Barbusse, and Pearl Buck. In 1975 she was awarded the Israel Prize for the arts.

[Mendel Kohansky]


Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.