Konrad Bercovici

Konrad Bercovici (June 22, 1882 –December 27, 1961) was a Romanian-American writer.

Life and career Born in Romania, into a non-observing Jewish family, in 1882, Konrad Bercovici grew up chiefly in Galaţi. His family was polyglot, teaching their children Greek, Romanian, French and German, and they mixed freely with Greeks, Romanians, Russians, Turks, Jews, and Roma that moved throughout Dobrudja and the Danubian Delta region. According to his autobiography, Bercovici especially developed a close connection with local Roma through contact with his Roma nursemaid, her family, and the Roma with whom his father traded horses. The family remained in Romania until his father died from injuries sustained during anti-Semitic riots in Galaţi when Bercovici was 11.

After his father's death, most of the family emigrated to Paris. Konrad worked there during preparations for the 1900 World's Fair, and his education was influenced by witnessing public debates and recriminations surrounding the Dreyfus Affair. Bercovici went to the Université Populaire where he studied to be an organist. In Paris, he met his wife, the sculptor Naomi Librescu. Together, they emigrated to North America. After some time in Montréal, Canada, the family settled on the Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City. To make ends meet Bercovici worked in sweatshops, gave piano lessons, and played the organ for nickelodeons. At this time, he and his wife Naomi became close friends with Paul Robeson and his wife Essie.

His success as a writer allowed Bercovici to travel and produce well-received examinations of Ethnic immigrants making their homes throughout the United States. In his work Around the world in New York he devotes a chapter, titled "Spain", to the Spanish corner of the city, called Little Spain. Most often, Bercovici traveled to Europe where he ran in circles with Lost Generation writers F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway.

He went on to write works of biography, travel and fiction. He also wrote articles for Harper's.

Bercovici's stories generated interest in Hollywood where he worked as a screenwriter for several years. There, he befriended Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks.

Naturalist American writer Theodore Dreiser had copies of his work in his library. Through his brother Joseph, he was the uncle of Leonardo Bercovici, the great-uncle of Eric Bercovici, and the great-great-uncle of Luca Bercovici.

An unpublished memoir about the Algonquin Round Table social club by Bercovici was edited by his granddaughter Mirana Comstock and published in 2024.