Editing Will Eisner (section)

===Family background===

Eisner's father, Shmuel "Samuel" Eisner, was born to [[Galician Jewish]] parents on March 6, 1886, in [[Kolomyia]], [[Austria-Hungary]] (present-day [[Ukraine]]), and was one of eleven children. He aspired to be an artist, and as a teenager painted murals for rich patrons and Catholic churches in [[Vienna]]. To avoid conscription in the army, he moved to New York before the outbreak of [[World War I]].{{sfn|Schumacher|2010|p=2}} There he found getting work difficult, as his English skills were poor.{{sfn|Schumacher|2010|pp=2–3}} He made what living he could painting backdrops for [[vaudeville]] and the [[Jewish theater]].{{sfn|Schumacher|2010|p=3}}

Eisner's mother, Fannie Ingber, was born to [[Romanian Jewish]] parents on April 25, 1891, on a ship bound for the US. Her mother died on her tenth birthday and was quickly followed by her father. An older stepsister thereafter raised her and kept her so busy with chores that she had little time for socializing or schooling; she did what she could later in life to keep knowledge of her illiteracy from her children.{{sfn|Schumacher|2010|p=3}}

Shmuel and Fannie, who were distant relatives, met through family members.{{sfn|Schumacher|2010|pp=3–4}} They had three children: son Will Erwin, born on his father's birthday in 1917; son Julian, born February 3, 1921; and daughter Rhoda, born November 2, 1929.{{sfn|Schumacher|2010|p=4}}