Sonya the Wise Woman (Sonya Naimark)
Little is known of Sonya (Naimark) the Wise Woman, whose folktales reflect Jewish life in her home Mogilev province (today in Belarus). A respected khakhome (wise woman), Naimark won recognition—and earned a living—as a practiced storyteller. She also taught tales to badkhentes (female wedding jesters), which they used to entertain guests at weddings and other festivities. Naimark was noted for her deft and theatrical use of language, style, and rhyme in her performance of stories and proverbs. Naimark was a contributor to A. Litvin’s pioneering ethnographic compilations of East European Jewish folk culture.