Nathan Frederick Spielvogel (10 May 1874 â 10 September 1956) was an Australian author of Jewish origin, whose work has been compared to that of Judah Waten.
Spielvogel was born in Ballarat, Victoria, a son of Neuman Frederik (c. 1830 â 29 October 1891) and Hannah Spielvogel née Cohen (c. 1844 â 21 January 1901). His father, generally called "Newman", was a tailor and pawnbroker, born in Kolomea, Galizia, Austria (now in western Ukraine) and his mother in Chodsiesen, Prussia (now in Poland). They married at Ballarat Synagogue on 25 December 1867.
Spielvogel was educated at Dana Street State School, Ballarat, and had his Bar Mitzvah at Ballarat Synagogue on 21 May 1887.
His first published poem, "Mike Hardy's Fate" was published in the Ballarat Courier of 1894, and in 1898 The Bulletin began publishing his verses and stories under several noms de plume.
He taught in various Victorian rural schools, including Dimboola, Orbost Longwood, where a whispering campaign accused him of being German, Mitcham, Wangaratta, and back to his old school at Dana Street, Ballarat, retiring in 1939.
His Jewish identity was also part of his writing. In 1903, six years after the First Zionist Congress and the stirrings of Zionism, he published his ballad, The Wandering Jew in The Bulletin:
In 1904, he visited Egypt, England, Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland, writing of his experiences in A Gumsucker on the Tramp, "gumsucker" being a colloquialism for a country Victorian. The book sold 10,000 copies and encouraged him to write another book, The Cocky Farmer.
He contributed to The Lone Hand, The Bulletin, and Dimboola Banner as "Genung", "Eko", "Ato", "Ahaswar".
He fell in love with a non-Jewish woman, but following his mother's wishes married Jessie Muriel Harris, daughter of Henry Harris (publisher of the Hebrew Standard) at the Great Synagogue, Sydney on 6 September 1911.
On Thursdays he dined at Fasoli's restaurant with the writers and artists, E.J. Brady, Hal Gye, Louis Esson, C. J. Dennis and Norman Lindsay.
Spielvogel had two brothers: Frederick Isaac Spielvogel (27 December 1868 â 1947) and Solomon "Sol" Spielvogel (14 November 1875 â 6 September 1958)
He had three sons with Harris, Laurie, Bill and Phil:
All three married outside the Jewish faith and away from Ballarat.
His grandson Dennis Spielvogel (1953âÂÂ2020), the youngest of three brothers, was a member of the Ballarat & District Genealogical Society and founding president of the Bungaree Historical Society.