Abram Zimmerman: Who was Bob Dylan’s father?

Abram Zimmerman was the father of Bob Dylan. Abram Zimmerman’s son is an American singer-songwriter. He is generally regarded as one of the greatest songwriters ever to walk on this planet, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his 60-year career. His songwriting is known for its verbal dexterity, wit, social commentary, and adept handling of metaphor and rhyme. Dylan won his first GRAMMY in 1973 at the 15th GRAMMY Awards for Album Of The Year as a featured artist on The Concert for Bangla Desh.

Abram Zimmerman: Bio Summary

Who was Bob Dylan’s father?

Abram Zimmerman was born on October 19, 1911, in Duluth, Minnesota, United States of America. He was the son of  Zigman Zimmerman and Anna Zimmerman. Per PeoplePill, his parents had emigrated to the United States from Odesa in the Russian Empire (now Ukraine), following the anti-Semitic pogroms of 1905.

Abram’s parents arrived in Duluth at the beginning of the last century. The City which is one hundred and fifty-one miles north of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul became the end of a long journey for the Jewish couple and their children-(Marion, Maurice, and Paul. Three more boys—Jack, Abram, and Max), who arrived after fleeing antisemitic persecution in what was then the Russian Empire and in what is today Ukraine.

“My grandmother’s voice possessed a haunting accent, face always set in a half-despairing expression,” Bob Dylan recalled in his 2004 memoir. “Life for her hadn’t been easy. She’d come to America from Odessa, a seaport town in southern Russia. It was a town not unlike Duluth, the same kind of temperament, climate and landscape and right on the edge of a big body of water.“

By the age of seven, Bob Dylan’s father was selling newspapers and shining shoes to help the family. Abram Zimmerman was also a musician, and the Zimmerman children formed a little band. “Abe played violin. I played violin [and] Marion played piano,” says Abram’s brother Jack to the New York Times. “We had pretty good talent and played together at some high schools.” He graduated high school in 1929 and went on to work for Standard Oil.

Abram Zimmerman met his wife Beatty Zimmerman at a New Year’s party when she was introduced to him by his wife’s aunt. Fast forward the couple tied the knot at Beatty Zimmerman’s mother’s home on June 10, 1934, three days after her nineteenth birthday. Abram was twenty-two at the time.

ALSO, READ; Beatty Zimmerman: Inside the Life Of Bob Dylan’s mother

The married couple lived with Abram’s mother in Duluth. By 1941, Bob Dylan’s father had been promoted to management level at Standard Oil, and he and Beatty had enough money to get their own apartment. Beatty was already pregnant when they moved to their new home.

On the evening of May 24, 1941, Beatty gave birth to a baby boy at nearby St. Mary’s Hospital. He weighed seven pounds and one ounce. Four days later he was given two names. In Hebrew, he was called Shabtai Zisel ben Avraham. In the wider world, he would be known as Robert Allen Zimmerman. Almost immediately he was known as Bob, or Bobby.

Abram Zimmerman was stricken with polio

Per the New York Times, Bob Dylan’s father, Abram Zimmerman was stricken with polio in 1946. After spending weeks in the hospital he came home and crawled up the front steps of the house “like an ape,” as the Outlet described it. He stayed home for six months and then lost his job at Standard Oil.

“My father never walked right again and suffered much pain his whole life,” said the Songwriter. “I never understood this until much later but it must have been hard for him.” Without his work, the family was short of money. The Zimmermans moved to Hibbing, where Beatty’s family lived and where two of Abram’s brothers ran a business.

ALSO, READ; Katherine Jackson: Where Is Michael Jackson’s Mother Now?

Abram Zimmerman went into partnership with his two electrician brothers, Maurice and Paul. The brothers sold a range of household appliances and carried out wiring and electrical repair work. According to the New York Times, Bob Dylan’s relationship with his father was not as close as that with his mother. His father was a reserved man, very quiet, authoritarian, and hard to know. However, in his Father’s Day poem, Bob affirmed his respect for his father, stating that he tried his best to please him.

What happened to Bob Dylan’s father?

Bob Dylan’s father Abram Zimmerman passed away on June 05, 1968, in Duluth, St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States. He was 56 years old at the time of his passing. The cause of his death was revealed to be a Heart attack per Geni. Abram “Abe” Zimmerman was laid to rest at Tifereth Israel Cemetery, Arnold, St. Louis County, Minnesota, USA.