Spielvogel grew up in Ballarat, where he attended Dana Street High School. He trained there in 1892 to 1895 as a pupil-teacher, and taught at several schools in the Wimmera from 1897 to 1907. After being posted to other Victorian schools, he returned to Ballarat to be headmaster of Dana Street State School from 1924 to 1939. His writing career began in 1894 with a Christmas story for the Ballarat Courier. Using various pen names, he continued to contribute to this, as well as to the Jewish press, the Bulletin, the Dimboola Banner, and other newspapers. He was probably best known for his first book, A Gumsucker on the Tramp, which sold 20,000 copies.
Spielvogel 's friends in the literary world included J. K. Moir, Victor Kennedy and R. H. Croll (qq.v.). His interests were many, including a passion for local history. He published a number of books about the history of Ballarat, and was president of the Ballarat Historical Society from 1933 to 1956. After his death, three volumes of his radio talks and articles about Ballarat history were published as The Spielvogel Papers (1974-2004).
He was also president of the Ballarat Hebrew Congregation, the Mechanics' Institute, the Teachers' Institute and Dana Steet Old Scholars' Association. He was involved in the Ballarat chess club, and helped sustain the Ballarat synagogue between 1941 and 1953. Judah Waten (q.v.) wrote that Jewish literature in Australia began with Spielvogel.
(Source : Australian Dictionary of Biography)
