Bel Kaufman

Bella Kaufman (May 10, 1911 – July 25, 2014) was an American teacher and author, well known for writing the bestselling 1964 novel Up the Down Staircase.

Early life Bella's father, Michael Kaufman (Mikhail Y. Koyfman) and her mother, Lala (Lyalya) Kaufman (née Rabinowitz) were both from the Russian Empire and married in 1909.

Bella Kaufman was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1911, where her father was studying medicine. The family subsequently returned to Russia where her father completed his studies. Her father eventually became a physician, and her mother, the second-oldest daughter of famed Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem, later established herself as a writer under the name Lala Kaufman.

Bel was the older of two children. Her brother Sherwin, born nine years later, was a New York City physician. Bel's native language was Russian, and she was raised in Odesa and Kyiv (in present-day Ukraine). As a child, she published her first poem, "Spring", in an Odesa magazine. Life there was very difficult.

Kaufman emigrated to the United States in 1922 at age 12 with her parents. She and her family lived in Newark, New Jersey, where her father practiced medicine until his death in 1938. Her mother initially composed in Russian but went on to write sketches and stories in Yiddish that were published regularly for many years in the Jewish Daily Forward (Forverts), and she also translated some of Bel's grandfather (Sholem Aleichem)'s works from Yiddish into Russian.

Kaufman first began learning English after her arrival in the United States but it was hard for her. Upon entering public school at age 12, she was placed in classes with first graders hindered because of language. She attended Hunter College in New York, graduating magna cum laude in 1934 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She credits a teacher who helped her to learn the English language in her elementary years and it was through her that she came to love English literature. In 1936, Kaufman graduated with a master's degree in literature from Columbia University.

At 99 years old, Bel Kaufman was hired by her alma mater Hunter College in February 2011 to teach a course on Jewish humor. She turned 100 years old during her first semester of instruction. "I'm too busy to get old", noted Kaufman, who spent her days writing in her book-lined study on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Personal life Kaufman married Sydney Goldstine in 1936 upon her graduation from Columbia University. They had two children: Jonathan (a computer science professor) and Thea (a psychologist).

Death Bel Kaufman died at home in New York City on July 25, 2014, aged 103. She was survived by her husband, Sidney Gluck; a brother, Sherwin Kaufman; her daughter, Thea Goldstine; her son, Jonathan Goldstine; and her granddaughter, Susan Goldstine.

Awards and honors Honorary chairman of the Yiddish Studies faculty at Columbia University Board of directors of the Sholem Aleichem Memorial Foundation Anti-Defamation League award United Jewish Appeal award Member of Hall of Fame, Hunter College

Selected bibliography Up the Down Staircase (1964) Love, etc. (1979)