Born 28 February 1887. In Jurbarkas as Zorach Gorfinkel, was the eighth of ten children. He and his family emigrated to the USA in 1894, settled in Cleveland and changed their surname to Finkelstein. As a teenager he worked on lithographs and studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art from 1905 to 1907. In 1908 he moved to New York where he studied at the New York Academy of Design. In 1910 he moved to Paris, where he continued his studies at La Palette School of Art. In Paris, he met his future wife Marguerite Thompson (1887-1968), a fellow student, whom he married on 24 December 1912. In New York. In 1913, both artists exhibited their work at the Armory Show. William and Marguerite's work was heavily influenced by Cubism and Fauvism, and they are considered to be one of the first artists in the USA to introduce American Modernism to European Modernism.
From 1913 to 1920, William painted and exhibited his paintings in galleries such as the Whitney Studio Club and the Independent Artists Gallery. Later, William began to dabble in sculpture. He developed a unique and monumental style of sculpture that has put him at the forefront of today's art world. In 1915 William and Margarita had a son, Tesim, and in 1917 a daughter, Dahlov Ipcar, who later became a renowned artist. In 1923, William and his family settled on Georgetown Island, Maine. In 1953 William was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters and in 1964 received his Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Bates College. In 1959, J.I.H. Bauris wrote a study on Zorach entitled "Art is My Life". The book "Zorach Explains Sculpture" was published in 1960. From 1929 to 1960 he taught at the Art Students League in New York. Zorach was an active artist until his death on 15 November 1966
