Tevye the dairyman ([ˈtɛvjə], Yiddish: טבֿיה דער מילכיקער) is the protagonist of several of Sholem Aleichem's stories, originally written in Yiddish and first published in 1894. The character became best known from the fictional memoir Tevye and his Daughters (also called Tevye the Milkman or Tevye the Dairyman), about a pious Jewish milkman in Tsarist Russia, and the troubles he has with his six daughters: Tzeitel, Hodel, Chava, Shprintze, Bielke, and Teibel, as well as from the musical dramatic adaptation Fiddler on the Roof. (In the first short story, there is also a mention of a seventh daughter; in Fiddler, however, there are only five daughters, of which only three have major roles.)
The story was adapted for stage and film several times, including several Yiddish-language musicals. Most famously, it was adapted as the Broadway musical and later film versions of Fiddler on the Roof. The original Broadway musical was based on a play written by Arnold Perl called "Tevye and his Daughters," based on Shalom Aleichem's story, "Tevye the Milkman."
