SIMON, SHLOME

SIMON, SHLOME (1895–1970), Yiddish educator and children's author. Born in Kalinkovichi (Belorussia), Simon had a traditional education and worked as a village melammed before immigrating to the U.S. in 1913. After working in various jobs and serving in the army during World War I, he taught in Hebrew schools and became a dentist. Extensively active in Jewish education, for 15 years he was president of the Sholem Aleichem Folk Institute, edited the Yiddish children's magazine Kinder-Zhurnal, published extensively on Yiddish folklore, the Bible, and Jewish problems in Yiddish periodicals throughout Europe and North America, and wrote numerous children's books in Yiddish (some translated into English   by his son, David), among them Vortslen (My Jewish Roots, 1956), Tsvaygn (In the Thicket, 1960), Di Heldn fun Khelm (The Wise Men of Chelm, 1942), and Kluge Hent ("Clever Hands," 1973) -BIBLIOGRAPHY: LNYL, 6 (1961), 413–5. (Sol Liptzin / Jerold C. Frakes (2nd ed.)