Sofia Gurevitsh (1880–1942) was a Belarusian Jewish educator.
She was the founder of the Sofia Gurevitsh Gimnazye, an academy (secondary school) in Vilnius that promoted the use of Yiddish as a respected language for all purposes, including education.Katz, Dovid. Lithuanian Jewish Culture. Vilnius, Lithuania: Baltos Lankos, 2004. 277-78.
Biography Born in Minsk, her father was a lumber merchant, wealthy enough to send her to a school for aristocratic women in St Petersburg, RussiaHistory of the Sofye Gurevich School in Vilna. Oral history interview with Benjamin Harshav, conducted by Christa Whitney. https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/oral-histories/excerpts/woh-ex-0002383/history-sofye-gurevich-school-vilna. Accessed 6 October 2019. where she studied pedagogy and natural sciences. She taught in Russian schools near Vitebsk before moving to Vilna in 1905 (according to Katz; Harshav says 1902).
At that time Vilna had begun to support a number of Yiddish schools at various levels. Along with Gurevitsh, Dveyre Kupershteyn (also known as Deborah Cooperstein; 1854–1939) also established a girls' school that originally taught in Russian before making what was then a bold switch in 1920 to teach entirely in Yiddish. Her school at first offered only four grades before expanding to offer another four.Katz, Dovid. Lithuanian Jewish Culture. Vilnius, Lithuania: Baltos Lankos, 2004. 277-78. In contrast, Gurevitsh's academy began as a high school for Jewish girls at a time when this was a novelty. After World War I, when it was one of two Yiddish high schools in Vilna, the academy became a co-educational institution.History of the Sofye Gurevich School in Vilna. Oral history interview with Benjamin Harshav, conducted by Christa Whitney. https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/oral-histories/excerpts/woh-ex-0002383/history-sofye-gurevich-school-vilna. Accessed 6 October 2019.
Gurevitsh's academy produced many students who survived World War II and who worked as academicians, artists, librarians, authors, and educators in Israel, the United States, and Lithuania itself.Katz, Dovid. "Yiddish Author Aaron Garon’s New Book to Feature at 20 Feb. Yiddish Reading Circle." Defending History. Vol. XI, No. 3682: 10 February 2019. http://defendinghistory.com/yiddish-author-aaron-garons-new-book-to-feature-at-20-feb-yiddish-reading-circle/97781. Accessed 6 October 2019. One of them, Aaron Garon, wrote a memoir about the academy, entitled “Sófye Gurévitsh un ir vílner gimnázye” ("Sofia Gurevich and her Vilna Academy"), that was published in 1995 in Oxford Yiddish 3; he credited Gurevitsh along with his parents for his achievements."Aaron Garon’s Book Vilnius Jewish World Presented at LJC." Jewish Community of Lithuania. https://www.lzb.lt/en/2019/02/18/aaron-garons-book-vilnius-jewish-world-presented-at-ljc/. Accessed 6 October 2019. Another student, Benjamin Harshav, who taught at Yale University, discusses the academy in an oral history as part of the Wexler Oral History Project; his mother, who had taught at the school, took it over when Gurevitsh was forced to leave.History of the Sofye Gurevich School in Vilna. Oral history interview with Benjamin Harshav, conducted by Christa Whitney. https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/oral-histories/excerpts/woh-ex-0002383/history-sofye-gurevich-school-vilna. Accessed 6 October 2019.
In the 1930s Vilna came under Polish control and Yiddish educational establishments in general were banned.Katz, Dovid. "Yiddish Author Aaron Garon’s New Book to Feature at 20 Feb. Yiddish Reading Circle." Defending History. Vol. XI, No. 3682: 10 February 2019. http://defendinghistory.com/yiddish-author-aaron-garons-new-book-to-feature-at-20-feb-yiddish-reading-circle/97781. Accessed 6 October 2019. Gurevitsh in particular was banned because she did not speak Polish. She left Vilna for Russia, where she had two brothers who were senior officials in the Ministry for Heavy Industry.History of the Sofye Gurevich School in Vilna. Oral history interview with Benjamin Harshav, conducted by Christa Whitney. https://www.yiddishbookcenter.org/collections/oral-histories/excerpts/woh-ex-0002383/history-sofye-gurevich-school-vilna. Accessed 6 October 2019. She died in Gorki.Katz, Dovid. Lithuanian Jewish Culture. Vilnius, Lithuania: Baltos Lankos, 2004. 277-78.
See also
Profile on Gurevitsh and photo
References