Mendele Mocher Sforim
Religious Author
One of the founders of modern Yiddish and Hebrew literature, he is known for The Wanderings of Benjamin III and other works. He wrote in both the Hebrew and Yiddish languages.
During his early travels in Eastern Europe, he was followed by a beggar named Avreml Khromoy. This unsavory character inspired Sforim's novel, Fishke der Krumer (Fishke the Lame).
He published his debut short story in Kol Mevasser, the first important Yiddish newspaper.
He was in his early teens when his father, Chaim Moyshe Broyde, passed away.
His acclaimed 1878 book, The Wanderings of Benjamin III, has been compared to Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote.