Kadia Molodovsky

Life & Legacy

Kadia Molodowsky (Yiddish: קאַדיע מאָלאָדאָװסקי; also: Kadya Molodowsky; May 10, 1894, in Bereza Kartuska, now Byaroza, Belarus – March 23, 1975, in Philadelphia) was a Polish-American poet and writer in the Yiddish language, and a teacher of Yiddish and Hebrew. She published six collections of poetry during her lifetime, and was a widely recognized figure in Yiddish poetry during the twentieth century.
Molodowsky first came to prominence as a poet and intellectual in the Yiddish literary world while living in Warsaw, in the newly independent Poland, during the interwar period. Some of her more playful poems and stories were set to music and sung in Yiddish schools throughout the world. She was also known for novels, dramas, and short stories. In 1935 she emigrated to the United States, where she continued publishing works in Yiddish. She also went on to found and edit two international Yiddish literary journals, היים Heym (Home) and סבֿיבֿה Svive (Milieu).