Literary Pioneer Yosef Haim Brenner Is Born
September 11, 1881 Yosef Haim Brenner, the leading Israeli literary figure of the early 20th century, is born in Novi Mlini, Ukraine. He grows up receiving a Jewish education and joins the Bund, a Jewish…
Linguist Avraham Even-Shoshan Dies
August 8, 1984 Hebrew linguist and lexicographer Avraham Even-Shoshan dies at age 77 in Tel Aviv and is buried in Jerusalem. Born Avraham Rosenstein in 1906 in Minsk, Belarus, he attended a Jewish school run…
Writer Netiva Ben Yehuda Is Born
July 26, 1928 Netiva Ben Yehuda, a Palmach member, early Israeli feminist, acclaimed writer and media personality, is born in Tel Aviv to a father from Lithuania and a mother from Ukraine. She has two…
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda Dies
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, considered the “father of modern Hebrew,” dies from tuberculosis at the age of 64 in Jerusalem. Thirty thousand mourners attend his funeral on the Mount of Olives.
Rachel Bluwstein Is Born
Rachel Bluwstein, born in Russia, makes Aliyah in 1909. Bluwstein is considered the “founding mother” of modern Hebrew poetry and is one of the first modern Hebrew poets to write in a conversational style.
Zola Writes ‘J’Accuse’ Letter
January 13, 1898 Influential French writer Emile Zola publishes an open letter to French President Felix Faure under the headline “J’Accuse” (“I Accuse”), charging Faure and the French government with antisemitism in the Dreyfus Affair….
Poet Natan Yonatan Dies
March 12, 2004 Natan Yonatan, one of Israel’s greatest poets, dies at age 80. Yonatan was born in Kyiv in 1923 and soon immigrated to Palestine with his parents. A few years later the family…
Moshe Smilansky Born
February 24, 1874 Early Zionist leader Moshe Smilansky, whose influence ranges from the military to agriculture and literature, is born near Kyiv, Ukraine. Smilansky first visits Palestine in 1890 and settles in Rehovot in 1893…
Children’s Author Miriam Roth Born
February 16, 1910 Miriam Roth, whose Hebrew writing elevates children’s literature in Israel, is born in the Slovakian region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. She attends various Jewish schools, including one run by her father, and…
Peretz Smolenskin Dies
February 1, 1885 Russian Jewish novelist, editor and early Zionist Peretz Smolenskin dies of tuberculosis at age 43 in Italy. Smolenskin was born in the Mogilev province of White Russia in 1842 and had a…
Writer Aharon Megged Dies
March 23, 2016 Aharon Megged, who won almost every literary prize in Israel, including the S.Y. Agnon Prize, Prime Minister’s Prize, President’s Prize and 2003 Israel Prize, dies in Tel Aviv at age 95. He…
Haifa Professor Announces He Has Deciphered Ancient Hebrew Inscription
University of Haifa Professor Gershon Galil announces that he has deciphered an inscription from the time of King David’s reign in the 10th century BCE.
First Kisufim Conference of Jewish Writers is Held in Israel
Organized by Israeli author Aharon Applefeld and politician Natan Sharansky, the Kisufim Conference opened in Jerusalem.
Ephraim Kishon Passes Away
Israeli writer, playwright, and film writer/director Ephraim Kishon passes away at the age of 80 in Switzerland.
Poet Yehuda Amichai Dies
Yehuda Amichai, the poet laureate of Jerusalem, dies from lymphoma at the age of 76.
Hanoch Levin Premieres Last Play
March 19, 1999 Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin’s final play, “Requiem,” makes its debut at the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv. The play is based on three short stories by Anton Chekhov. Levin dies of bone…
Intellectual Yeshayahu Leibowitz Dies
August 18, 1994 Yeshayahu Leibowitz, a controversial Jewish thinker and Israeli public intellectual, dies in his sleep at age 91 in Jerusalem. Leibowitz was born to a religious Zionist family in Riga, Latvia, in 1903….
Yehuda Amichai Is Awarded the Israel Prize for Poetry
Renowned Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai jointly wins the 1982 Israel Prize for poetry with Amir Gilboa.
Poet Avraham Shlonsky Dies
Avraham Shlonsky, renowned Israeli poet, editor, and translator, passes away in Tel Aviv at the age of 73.
Writer Avigdor Hameiri Dies
April 3, 1970 Hebrew poet and novelist Avigdor Hameiri, Israel’s first poet laureate, dies at age 79. Born into a farm family in a small Hungarian village, Hameiri had a typical Jewish education and was…
Writer-Musician Assaf Gavron Is Born
December 21, 1968 Assaf Gavron, a writer and musician, is born in Arad to English immigrants. Gavron spends his childhood in Motza Illit, near Jerusalem. He studies media and communication at Goldsmiths’ College in London…
Writer Etgar Keret Is Born
August 20, 1967 Etgar Keret, one of Israel’s most popular writers, is born in Ramat Gan. Keret’s quirky work, mainly short stories and graphic novels featuring odd twists and the unexpected, wins critical acclaim as…
Yitzhak Dov Berkowitz Dies
March 29, 1967 Russian-born writer Yitzhak Dov Berkowitz, who won the Bialik Prize, Israel Prize and Tchernichovsky Prize for Translation, dies after a short illness at age 82. Born in 1885 near Minsk, Berkowitz read…
Yiddish Writer Sholem Asch Dies
July 10, 1957 Yiddish novelist and playwright Sholem Asch dies at age 76 in London. Asch was born in Kutno in Russian-controlled Poland in 1880 as the youngest of 10 children in a Hasidic family….
