Men­achem Kip­nis (1879 – 1942) was born in Ushomir, Ukraine, into a fam­i­ly of can­tors. Kipnis’s work as an eth­no­mu­si­col­o­gist, singer, pho­tog­ra­ph­er, and folk­lorist unfold­ed at the height of Jew­ish folk­loris­tic activ­i­ty in Europe between the world wars. Kip­nis died of a stroke in the War­saw ghet­to in 1942.