Leo Rosten

Leo Rosten was born in Łódź, Poland, on April 11, 1908. He immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of three. He graduated from the University of Chicago and received his Ph.D. in sociology in 1937. He worked as a screenwriter and held a series of wartime government-information jobs. He joined the staff of Look magazine in 1949, where he worked until 1971. He also lectured at Columbia University. Rosten is best known for his popular books on Yiddish and for his comic novels featuring the immigrant night-school student Hyman Kaplan. He died on February 19, 1997, in New York City.

Here are some of his most notable works:

* **The Joys of Yiddish** (1968)
* **Hyaam Kaplan** (1952)
* **Captain Newman, M.D.** (1963)
* **The Education of Hyman Kaplan** (1937)
* **The Return of Hyman Kaplan** (1956)

Rosten was a prolific writer and a talented humorist. His work has been translated into over 20 languages and has sold millions of copies worldwide. He is considered one of the most important figures in American Jewish culture.