"Shulamis Borodensky Yelin was born in Montreal on April 12, 1913. Her parents had emigrated from Chernobyl three years earlier." As a poet and educator, she had a great influence. In 1963 she won the LaMed Award from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture (USA).

"In one of Shulamis's published stories she writes about herself as a young Jewish girl in Montreal who comes home one day shocked and infuriated because her teacher has insisted that Shakespeare, whom she calls Shekspir, was not a Jew. Indeed Shulamis grew up in a world in which it made sense for her to claim any genius writer as a member of her tribe. And she was emboldened by such beliefs. She proudly claimed her heritage and used it to nourish her life's work."

More: We Remember - Shulamis Yelin http://jwa.org/weremember/yelin

Photo Credit: courtesy of Jewish Public Library Archives, Montreal.