Zypora Spaisman (b. January 2, 1916, Lublin, Poland - d. May 18, 2002, New York City) was a Polish-American actress and Yiddish theatre empresaria.

Life in Poland

Born as Zypora Tannenbaum, she worked in her native Poland as a midwife for many years, delivering hundreds of children, including during World War II when she witnessed horrendous suffering. After emigrating to the United States in 1954, she became an actress.

Career in the United States

Spaisman helped keep the Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre in NYC alive for 42 years (along with Morris Adler), before founding the Yiddish Public Theatre following a dispute with the Folksbiene's new management. The Folksbiene Yiddish Theatre, originally located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, is the longest-running Yiddish theatre company in the world. It was sustained by Morris Adler, who joined the company in 1934, and Spaisman, who joined twenty years later. During their tenure, the Folksbiene became a bastion for Yiddish literary culture.