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Levin Kipnis

Israeli writer (1894-1990)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 28, 2026
Entity authorityQ6535633
Source-derived summary

Levin Kipnis (Hebrew: לֶוִין קִיפְּנִיס; 1 August 1894 – 20 June 1990), or was born 1890, was an Israeli children's author and poet who wrote mainly in Hebrew and Yiddish. He won the Israel Prize in 1978.

Biography

Kipnis was born in the shtetl of Ushomir, Volhynian Governorate which was part of the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire, in the Russian Partition of Poland (now Ushomyr in Korosten Raion of Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine), into a family of 12. His father, Pessach, who was a shaliach tzibbur (Jewsih public prayer leader), sent him to study in a cheder, which he didn't like because of the strict discipline. He showed a passion for the arts from a young age, painting and woodcarving. His father, who saw his potential, encouraged him to become a sofer stam (Jewish religious scribe). He wrote mezuzot to provide additional income for the family.

He decided to become a writer at the age of 13, after seeing the Hebrew children's magazine "Haprachim" ("the flowers"). In his attic, he wrote, illustrated and produced his own magazine, later submitting one of his stories, "the sick child" to the children's magazine. The story was published in 1910.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Levin Kipnis” is israeli writer (1894-1990). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Levin, Kipnis and Israeli, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA productive starting point for separating a subject’s documented career from later reputation and commemoration. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1894, 1990, 1890, 1978—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1890-08-01. For this dossier, Levin, Kipnis and Israeli is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “israeli writer (1894-1990)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6535633. VIAF identifies the subject as 79216148. The Library of Congress control number is n85161495. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1894, 1990, 1890 and 1978.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Levin Kipnis”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Levin Kipnis primary sources, Levin Kipnis archive and Levin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Levin Kipnis”?
  2. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
  3. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Levin Kipnis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.