A portrait-photograph of S. An-sky, with a dedication handwritten by him, dated: Vilnius, 1919.
The photograph is mounted on cardboard and on its back, there is a dedication handwritten by An-sky (in Russian). An-sky wrote the dedication in Vilnius, where he lived after escaping Russia subsequent to the October Revolution.
S. Ansky (Shlomo Zanvl Rappoport; 1863-1920) was a poet and playwright, writer of the well-known play "Between the Two Worlds" (The Dybbuk). An-sky was born to a Hassidic family in Czasniki, Belarus. He was an active member of the Socialistic Movement and studied Jewish folklore. During the years 1912-1914 he headed a Jewish ethnographic expedition to various Jewish towns. In 1918, subsequent to the October Revolution, he escaped to Vilnius and from there to Poland and Warsaw, where he lived until his death in 1920.
Photograph: approx. 17x12.5 cm, mounted on cardboard. Cardboard: approx. 22x14 cm. Good condition. The photograph is slightly faded. Stains. Minor blemishes to the corners of the cardboard. The right margins of the cardboard are cut off.