page_title: Nathan Spielvogel
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Nathan Spielvogel / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Photographic bust portrait of Spielvogel wearing three-piece suit, bow tie, and pale stiff-brimmed felt hat.
context_page_description: Nathan Frederick Spielvogel was an Australian author of Jewish origin, whose work has been compared to that of Judah Waten.
context_section_description: Spielvogel was born in Ballarat, Victoria, a son of Neuman Frederik (c. 1830 – 29 October 1891) and Hannah Spielvogel née Cohen  (c. 1844 – 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 the synagogue, Barkly Street, Ballarat, on 25 December 1867.
  Spielvogel was educated at Dana Street State School, Ballarat, and had his Bar Mitzvah 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.
  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".
caption: Nathan Spielvogel c. 1925
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