Mayer Kirshenblatt

Mayer Kirshenblatt (1916–2009) was a Polish-born Canadian self-taught painter and author of Jewish origin.

Biography Mayer Kirshenblatt was born on September 4, 1916, in Opatów (Apt in Yiddish), to a middle class Jewish family. He attended a cheder and a Polish public school. He left Poland in 1934 and settled in Toronto, Canada,

In 1967, his daughter Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett began interviewing Mayer about his childhood. In minute detail Kirshenblatt painted people at work, everyday chores, as well as Jewish and Christian holiday celebrations. The book won the Canadian Jewish Book Award, and American Association of University Presses award, and was a finalist in three categories for the National Jewish Book Award.

Kirshenblatt died on November 20, 2009, in Toronto.