Anna Guzik

Anna Guzik ( or , , 1909–1994) was a Soviet variety artist, Russian and Yiddish theatre actress, and recording artist. Like Zinovy Shulman, Nechama Lifshitz, Sidi Tal, and Emil Gorovets, she had a career performing Jewish music and plays on the Soviet stage which was marked by various periods of censorship and official support depending on the political climate.

Biography Guzik was born on April 15, 1909, in Kharkiv, or possibly in Minsk, Russian Empire. Her mother was Rosalia Freilich and her father, Yaakov Guzik, was leader of a Yiddish theatre troupe; both had been students of Abraham Goldfaden. In the late 1920s the family's troupe was closed by authorities for being Bourgeois, and she turned to performing Jewish material for the Red Guards. She became known as a variety artist who would read short monologues or scenes, sing Yiddish language folk songs, and perform Russian language comedies. However, Jewish performances were discouraged by authorities after 1950, and for several years she barely performed at all.

In 1954 there was a reversal in policy and Jewish performances began to be allowed again; after that she toured successfully with a variety act once again. She became a major figure in the revival of Jewish culture in the post-Stalin era; her major touring programme was called (Wandering Stars) and was based on the work of Sholem Aleichem. However, in that era Jewish material was subject to strict censorship and was forced to include a significant amount of Russian-language material as well; nevertheless, she fought to include Yiddish folk songs in her performances. One of her only recordings of the postwar era was with Emil Gorovets, who included her on a late 1950s LP which was re-released in the United States by Monitor Records.

After she refused to condemn Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967, her performance schedule was greatly reduced. However, she continued to occasionally give sold-out concerts into the early 1970s.

She emigrated to Israel in 1973.

She died in Tel Aviv on March 15, 1994.