Bella Chagall – a String of Pearls and the Golden Chain

Marc Chagall frequently painted his wife, Bella; her cultural contribution, though, is not so well known. In her two posthumously published works, the world of her youth, her Hasidic upbringing in pre-war Vitebsk come to life, noisily and brightly, through the eyes of a girl jostling for a better view in the women’s gallery of the synagogue. Escaping Europe in 1940, her writing is a testimony to that world on the eve of its destruction and represents a turning point in Yiddish literature, when the memoir would become the most important genre. “Will the busy people of today be able to immerse themselves in her world and her writing?” Marc introduced one of her books, “will others come along later to take in the scent of her flowers and her art?” This illustrated talk will look at her life, her work, and her outstanding contribution to Jewish literature.

Osian Evans Sharma is a Yiddish language teacher based in the UK. A master’s graduate of UCL, he has studied Yiddish in London, Tel Aviv and Berlin, and taught Yiddish for the Jewish Music Institute, Leo Baeck College, Babel’s Blessing and London synagogues. He has written for Forverts, The Jewish Chronicle, In Geveb and Leo Baeck College’s Lehrhaus. He is one of the organisers of the annual Yiddish Sof-Vokh UK, a cinephile and amateur puppeteer.

Members              – Free

Friends & Guests – £8.00 at the door