Abraham Goldfaden Yiddish: אַבֿרהם גאָלדפֿאַדען‎; (born Avrum Goldnfoden; the Romanian spelling Avram Goldfaden is common; 24 July 1840 in Starokostiantyniv – 9 January 1908 in New York City) was a Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Yiddish and Hebrew, author of some 40 plays.