Nydorf, Charles
-July 6, 2026
From Dovid Katz's Facebook post: “Was deeply saddened today to learn that on July 6th [2026] Charles Nydorf (שמואל⸗אליה נײַדאָרף) passed away suddenly in New York. He was an extraordinarily dedicated, knowledgeable and generous specialist in Yiddish dialectology, who was a rare master of Uriel Weinreich's Language and Culture Atlas of Ashkenazic Jewry (LCAAJ), which he coordinated for so many years. He was the epitome of learning for the sake of learning, and pursuing knowledge in so many fields all for its own sake (לשמה), not for any personal ambition. What a rare soul in our times. So many memories of New York in the seventies and Oxford in the eighties, and in recent years and decades benefiting from his knowledge via the internet, especially on these pages. Deepest sympathy and condolences to dear Elinor (my first student at Oxford, from Sept. 1978, whom I encouraged to study in New York where the couple met in 1981)...”
Together with Leye (Elinor) Robinson, he translated into Yiddish:
Heinrich Hoffmann’s Der Struwwelpeter (Shock-Headed Peter) as Pinye Shtroykop oder Vitsike Mayses un Komishe Bilder (Pinye the Strawhead, or Witty Stories with Comic Pictures) (Neckarsteinach: Edition Tintenfaß, 2023), 34 pp.;
Wilhelm Busch’s Max und Moritz as Shmul un Shmerke, a Mayse Mit Vayse-Khevredike in Zibn Shpitslekh (Shmul and Shmerke, a Story with Scamps in Seven Tricks) (Nidderau: M. Naumann, 2000), 66 pp.;
George Orwell’s Animal Farm as Der Khayes-Folvalk (Nidderau: M. Naumann, 2001), 93 pp.; and
Bertolt Brecht’s Die 3 Groschen Oper (The Three-Penny Opera) as Di Drayer Opere (Nidderau: M. Naumann, 2002), 90 pp.
He died in New York.