The Jewish poet, novelist, and playwright Isaac Loeb Peretz (1851-1915) was the leader of Yiddishism, a cultural movement dedicated to making Yiddish the national language of Jewish people throughout the world.

Isaac Peretz was born in Zamosc, Poland. Early Hasidic influences were counteracted by the progressive atmosphere in his native town. Peretz's first linguistic affiliation was with Hebrew, and although he later became the leader of Yiddishism, his devotion to Hebrew remained unchanged.

At the age of three Peretz studied the Bible in Hebrew, and at the age of six he studied the Talmud. In his youth he read widely in Polish literature. At an early age Peretz married the daughter of a man who dabbled in Hebrew poetry, and he settled in a little town where he became a partner in a brewery business. Peretz subsequently divorced his wife and spent the years 1876-1877 in Warsaw, where...