Kalman Schulman

He first became known as a writer in 1846, when he wrote a petition to Moses Montefiore on behalf of Jews who resided within fifty versts of the German and Austrian borders and were driven from their homes by a special law from the Russian government.

After he settled in Vilnius, he joined the city's circle of maskilic writers and became close friends with Micah Joseph Lebensohn.

He then focused entirely on literary activity, receiving support from the Society for the Promotion of Culture among the Jews of Russia in Saint Petersburg.

His Hebrew books were mostly translations intended to spread Haskalah among the Hebrew-speaking public and youth, although they also proved popular in Orthodox circles.

One of his widely read abridged translations was Eugène Sue's The Mysteries of Paris, which Schulman published from 1857 to 1860 and was republished with five more editions over the next half-century.

While his Orthodox tendencies angered more radical maskilim like Moshe Leib Lilienblum, it also meant his work was popular with a large audience of traditional readers who saw them as safe to read.