Avrom Greenbaum (1903-1963) papers
- Reference:GB 1220 PER.Greenbaum
- Dates of Creation:1937-1991
- Name of Creator:
- Language of Material:English Hebrew
- Physical Description:1 box
Scope and Content
This collection includes personal papers, marriage and death certificats, naturalisation certificate, playscripts, poetry and other writings, photographs and press cuttings.
Note that this collection has not been arranged; the catalogue is a box list only, and related material may appear throughout the catalogue.
There is also a related collection of material relating to the Glasgow Jewish Institute Players, see collection reference CUL.AGP.
Administrative / Biographical History
Aby Greenbaum was born in Izbitza in the province of Lublin, Poland in 1903 and was only 15 months when his parents, Barnet and Annie Greenbaum, brought him to Scotland.
The family was interested in music and the children played instruments. He attended Stow School, where at the age of 11 he was put in sole charge of the school’s annual concert.
Coming from a poor Gorbals family, he left school at 14, becoming a tailor like his family. However he developed his interests in music and theatre and produced a play for the Glasgow Young Zionists Literary Circle in the 1920s. He styled himself Avrom Greenbaum.
Largely a self-educated man, he taught himself French so that he could read Moliere in the original. He introduced Scottish audiences to European and American playwrights, such as Lorca and Odets. He also wrote plays (Bread of Affliction, Watch on the Clyde, Children of Dreams) as well as writing poetry and satirical revues.
In 1936, he formed a dramatic club in the Glasgow Jewish Institute in the Gorbals - the Institute Players. (see CUL.AGP collection)
Avrom frequently acted as an adjudicator at drama festivals and lectured widely on the theatre, for example at the Scottish Community Drama School. He produced plays for other non-Jewish companies, such as the Glasgow Unity Theatre.
Avrom Greenbaum died aged 60 in 1963
Access Information
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Personal Names