Abraham Regelson (; 1896–1981) was an Israeli

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

poet, author,

children's author Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

, translator, and editor.

Biography

Abraham Regelson was born in

Hlusk Hlusk (; ; ; ) is an urban-type settlement in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Hlusk District, and is home to nearly half of its district's residents. As of 2024, it has a population of 6,983. History The ea ...

, now

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

, in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

in 1896, and died at his home in Neveh Monossohn,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

in 1981. His parents were Yehuda Zeev Regelson and Rashel Ozick. He is the maternal uncle of

Cynthia Ozick Cynthia Ozick (born April 17, 1928) is an American short story writer, novelist, and essayist. Biography Cynthia Ozick was born in New York City. The second of two children, Ozick was raised in the Bronx by her parents, Celia (née Regelson) and ...

. Regelson emigrated with his family to the United States when he was nine years old. He studied at a

Cheder A ''cheder'' (, lit. 'room'; Yiddish pronunciation: ''khéyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th century. L ...

and public schools. He never finished formal studies but was an

autodidact Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning, self-study and self-teaching) is the practice of education without the guidance of schoolmasters (i.e., teachers, professors, institutions). Overview Autodi ...

who spent many hours in libraries.

Literary and journalism career

At first, he earned his livelihood as a librarian and Hebrew teacher, and began publishing his poetry, stories and translations in various Hebrew publications, both in America and in what was then Palestine. His first

aliya Aliya, Aaliyah, Alia or Aliyah ( or ) is an Arabic feminine given name. It is the feminine of the name Ali, meaning "high" , "exalted" , "sublime" , "rising" or "ascending" . People * Aliyah bint al-Mansur, was the daughter of Abbasid caliph al-M ...

(immigration) to

Eretz Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definitions ...

was in the year 1933. Employed by the daily newspaper ''

Davar ''Davar'' (, lit. ''Speech, Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. A similarly named website was launched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an ...

'', he was one of the founders of the children's weekly supplement ''Davar l'Yladim'', where his classic "Masa HaBubot l'Eretz-Yisrael" ("The Dolls' Journey to Eretz Israel") was first published in installments. Three years later, after having lost an infant son to dysentery, and with two of his older children endangered by

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, he returned to the US with his family. There he earned his living by writing for the Yiddish press, while publishing several books containing his Hebrew poetry, legends and philosophical essays. He returned to Israel in 1949, where he worked as an editor for the publishing house

Am Oved Am Oved ("A Working People") is an Israeli publishing house. History Am Oved was founded in 1942 by Berl Katznelson, who was its first editor in chief. It was created as an organ of the Histadrut, Israel's federation of Labor, with a goal of publ ...

. He was also on the staff of the daily newspaper '' Al Ha-Mishmar'', where he featured as a regular columnist. Regelson's language combined old and new in a captivating style. His innovative usages contributed to the rejuvenation of the Hebrew tongue. The influence of English literature added an appealing flavor to his work. He was a prolific translator and enriched Hebrew with many classics of English literature.

Awards and recognition

* In 1964, Regelson was awarded the

Brenner Prize The Brenner Prize is an Israeli literary prize awarded annually by the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel and the Haft Family Foundation. It recognizes and honors Hebrew literature Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern w ...

. * In 1972, he was awarded the

Bialik Prize The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate p ...

for

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. * In 1976, he won the Neuman Prize from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

's (NYU) Hebrew Department for his contribution to Hebrew literature.

References

External links

A commemorative website

Many of Regelson's works
have been made available through The Ben-Yehuda Project website * A translation of Regelson's short stor
"Manual Labor"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regelson, Abraham 1896 births 1981 deaths Israeli children's writers Israeli translators Hebrew-language poets Modern Hebrew writers Brenner Prize recipients Jewish Israeli writers Belarusian Jews Jews from Mandatory Palestine Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent American emigrants to Israel 20th-century Israeli translators 20th-century Israeli poets Burials at South Cemetery in Israel

Biography

Literary and journalism career

Awards and recognition

See also

References

Further reading

External links