Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A portrait of the Israeli national poet Leah Gold-
berg, April 4, 1946. (The Government Press Offi ce,
Israel / Eldan David.)
Israel on a silver platter, as a gift from those who gave their lives to achieve independence. In
addition to writing original poetry, plays, and essays, Alterman also translated into Hebrew the
writings of Shakespeare, Molière, and other great European writers.
Shlonsky got his start as an editor and translator of great works of Western literature, such
as
Hamlet
and
King Lear
and Russian classics. Much of his infl uence came through his Ktu-
vim (Biblical Writings) center, which attracted young, talented poets who themselves would
become household names, including Alexander Penn and Leah Goldberg.
Leah Goldberg (1911-1970) was a renowned poet, in addition to being a successful chil-
dren's author, theater critic, translator, and editor. In 1952, she established the Department of
Comparative Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and remained its head until her
death. During her career, Goldberg published nine books of poetry, two novels, three plays, six
books of nonfi ction, and twenty children's books. She won many prizes, including the Israel
Prize in Literature in 1970.
Although many or most of them were on the political left, two signifi cant poets joined the
nationalist right. Uri Tzvi Greenberg was born in Ukraine in 1896 and immigrated to Israel in
1924. Writing in both Yiddish and Hebrew, he won the Bialik Prize for Literature three times.
He became a member of the Irgun underground militia during the time of the British Man-
date. Like others of his generation, he mixed Jewish religious sources and depictions of Jewish
life in Europe with the Yishuv experience.
Uriel Shelah, best known by his pen name Yonatan Ratosh, was born in Poland in 1908
and immigrated with his family in 1921. He edited the Irgun's magazine. In 1939, however, he
