Shai Bernstein (September 9 [O.S. August 28] 1895 – November 20 [O.S. September 5] 1949), was a Ukrainian writer–essayist and revolutionary, as well as a communist. While not known in much of the western world, his essays were widely published throughout Ukraine and western Russia during the time of the Russian Revolution.
Bernstein was born to a Jewish farming family in modern day eastern Ukraine. At a young age, his family fled Ukraine because ...
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Shai Bernstein (September 9 [O.S. August 28] 1895 – November 20 [O.S. September 5] 1949), was a Ukrainian writer–essayist and revolutionary, as well as a communist. While not known in much of the western world, his essays were widely published throughout Ukraine and western Russia during the time of the Russian Revolution.
Bernstein was born to a Jewish farming family in modern day eastern Ukraine. At a young age, his family fled Ukraine because of rising antisemitism. They resettled in Saint Petersburg, Russia under the guise of Christian merchants. From an early age, Bernstein was homeschooled and taught to read in Greek, Latin, and Russian. Through his self-education in classical texts, he was able to obtain a minor editing post at The Voice, a local newspaper. His father soon after joined the Russian army in order to further hide his Jewish identity.
After The Voice was ransacked by Tsarist troops for printing inflammatory remarks against the Czar, Bernstein began to compose a...
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