This Day in Jewish History / Birth of Lev Nussimbaum, Author of Many Identities

Baku-born writer of ‘Ali and Nino’ converted to Islam in the 1920s, a choice driven more by aesthetic than spiritual concerns.

Oct 17, 2014 5:15 AM

October 17, 1905, is the birthdate of Lev Nussimbaum, the writer who changed identities the way a chameleon changes color. Nussimbaum’s best-known book is a romantic novel called “Ali and Nino,” which he...

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