Abel Meeropol (1903 - 1986) was an American writer best known under his pseudonym Lewis Allan, under which he wrote the anti-lynching poem Strange Fruit which he subsequently set to music and which was famously performed by Billie Holiday. Billie Holiday (or rather her ghostwriter) claimed, in Lady Sings the Blues, that she cowrote the music to the song with Meeropol and Sonny White, but in fact, Meeropol was the sole writer of both lyrics and melody to this haunting plea for civil rights.

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  • Abel Meeropol (1903 - 1986) was an American writer best known under his pseudonym Lewis Allan, under which he wrote the anti-lynching poem Strange Fruit which he subsequently set to music and which was famously performed by Billie Holiday. Billie Holiday (or rather her ghostwriter) claimed, in Lady Sings the Blues, that she cowrote the music to the song with Meeropol and Sonny White, but in fact, Meeropol was the sole writer of both lyrics and melody to this haunting plea for civil rights. Meeropol was the writer of countless poems and songs, including the Frank Sinatra hit The House I Live In. He taught at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, and on the side was an ardent, but closet, Communist. Meeropol chose to write as Lewis Allan in memory of the names of his two stillborn children. Later, he and his wife Anne adopted Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's two sons, Michael and Robert, after their parents' execution. According to Robert Meeropol, "Strange Fruit", "The House I Live In" and the Peggy Lee hit "Apples, Peaches and Cherries" provided most of the royalty income of the family. The latter especially after it had been translated into French by Sacha Distel (French Folksinger and sometime boyfriend of Brigitte Bardot). The resulting number one hit in France "Scoubidou" still earns Michael and Robert Meeropol royalties, however, these only started coming in after Distel and Abel Meeropol settled a copyright infringement law suit over Distel's obvious plagiarism. (en)
  • Abel Meeropol (1903 - 1986) plus connu sous le pseudonyme Lewis Allan, est l'auteur de la chanson « Strange Fruit » brillamment popularisée par Billie Holiday. Cette chanson poignante évoquant les lynchages dans le Sud des États-Unis devint bientôt l'hymne des militants contre la discrimination raciale et fut reprise plus tard par de nombreux interprètes de Nina Simone à Robert Wyatt. Auteur d'innombrables poèmes et chansons, comme par exemple le tube de Sinatra « The House I Live In », Meeropol fut aussi enseignant et un militant communiste. Il adopta les enfants des époux Rosenberg, Ethel et Julius, après leur exécution. (fr)
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  • Lewis Allan (en)
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  • Abel Meeropol (1903 - 1986) was an American writer best known under his pseudonym Lewis Allan, under which he wrote the anti-lynching poem Strange Fruit which he subsequently set to music and which was famously performed by Billie Holiday. Billie Holiday (or rather her ghostwriter) claimed, in Lady Sings the Blues, that she cowrote the music to the song with Meeropol and Sonny White, but in fact, Meeropol was the sole writer of both lyrics and melody to this haunting plea for civil rights. (en)
  • Abel Meeropol (1903 - 1986) plus connu sous le pseudonyme Lewis Allan, est l'auteur de la chanson « Strange Fruit » brillamment popularisée par Billie Holiday. (fr)
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  • Abel Meeropol (en)
  • Abel Meeropol (fr)
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