January 29, 2005
Israeli writer, playwright and filmmaker Ephraim Kishon dies at age 80 in Switzerland. Known for satire, Kishon’s works often focused on the day-to-day struggles of regular Israelis and the bureaucracy of the state.
His satirical films include Sallah Shabati (1964) and The Policeman (1971), which both won the Golden Globe for best foreign film and were nominated for Academy Awards.
Kishon was born in Budapest in 1924 and was imprisoned by the Nazis before escaping from a train bound for Sobibor and hiding in Budapest with a family of righteous Hungarian gentiles. He immigrated to Israel in 1949, and after spending a year learning Hebrew, he began writing a satirical column for the daily newspaper Ma’ariv. In his column, he created a series a of memorable characters that resonated with Israelis.
Kishon’s books are best-sellers in 37 languages and sell more than 40 million copies. Despite his immense popularity, he was never fully embraced by Israel’s cultural elite.
In 2002 he was awarded the Israel Prize for life achievement. The prize committee says, “Ephraim Kishon reflected in his writing the face of Israeli society and the problems of absorption during the early years of the state and so contributed immensely to national morale and the solid integration of the waves of immigrants.”
