Lazarus, << LAZ uhr uhs, >> Emma (1849-1887), was an American poet. She is best known for her sonnet, “The New Colossus” (1883), which was inscribed on a plaque inside the Statue of Liberty. The text of the sonnet appears in the article Statue of Liberty.
Loading the player...Lazarus' The New Colossus
Lazarus was born on July 22, 1849, in New York City. She wrote sentimental poetry about love and death and also translated works by the French author Victor Hugo and the German authors Heinrich Heine and Johann von Goethe. In 1881, violent anti-Jewish attacks took place in Russia, resulting in a wave of Jewish immigration to the United States. The attacks inspired Lazarus, a Jew, to write poetry that emotionally protested against the persecution of the Jews in Russia. The poems were collected in Songs of a Semite (1882). She died on Nov. 19, 1887.
