Portrait of Mendele Mocher Sforim

Half-length image of an elderly man. The raised head is turned to the left of the viewer. Serious gaze, has a crease on the nose. Thick hair and beard, forehead with bald spots. A fragment of pince-nez is molded on the nose. The right hand (from the viewer) is on the belt, the left one is bent at the elbow, the index finger is pointing up. Fragments of a jacket, a vest, a shirt, a bow-tie and outerwear are visible. Mendele Mocher Sforim (also known as Moykher, Sfarim; lit. "Mendele the book peddler"; January 2, 1836, Kapyl – December 8, 1917 [N.S.], Odessa), born Sholem Yankev Abramovich ( Solomon Moiseyevich Abramovich) or S. J. Abramowitch, was a Jewish author and one of the founders of modern Yiddish and Hebrew literature.