Nathan Yonathan ( he, נָתָן יֹונָתָן; 20 September 1923 – 12 March 2004) was an Israeli poet. His poems have been translated from

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and published in more than a dozen languages, among them: Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Yiddish.General reference for entry: Introduction, ''Within the Song to Live'', Gefen, 2005.

Biography

Natan Yonatan was born Nathan Klein, in Kiev in the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

in 1923. In 1925, his family immigrated to

Mandate Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

. They were among the early settlers (1935), of

Kfar Ma'as Kfar Ma'as ( he, כְּפַר מַעַשׂ, ''lit.'' Deed Village) is a moshav in central Israel. Located to the south of Petah Tikva on the edge of the Ono Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Drom HaSharon Regional Council. In it had a ...

, an agricultural village near Petah Tikva. Yonatan was active in the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement and in 1945 joined kibbutz

Sarid Sarid ( he, שָׂרִיד) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located near Migdal HaEmek, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . History Ottoman-era village of Khanâfis During the Ottoma ...

in the

Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the he, עמק יזרעאל, translit. ''ʿĒmeq Yīzrəʿēʿl''), or Marj Ibn Amir ( ar, مرج ابن عامر), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern Distr ...

. He was a member of Sarid for 46 years. From 1991 until his death, he resided in the suburbs of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

. He fathered two sons with his first wife Tzefira: Lior—who fell in action in the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

at age 21—and Ziv, musician, composer and radio producer. Natan Yonatan was also father to his second wife Nili's daughter and grandson: Netta and Tom. While love and passion, as well as the Israeli landscape, permeate his work, the authenticity of Yonatan's poems mourning the loss of Lior – the terrible price of war – became this poet's hallmark. He held degrees in Hebrew Literature and Comparative Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. He lectured internationally, as well as within the Israeli public school system. One of Israel’s most eminent teachers of creative writing, he was known for his generous spirit and desire to foster new poetic talent. While serving as long-term Editor-in-Chief of the Sifriat Poalim publishing house, he was also the unanimously elected President of the Hebrew Writers Union and represented

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

at literary conferences around the globe.

Awards

* 1946 – 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 Hayim Nahman Bialik ...

for

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

* 1960 – the Lamdan Prize for children's literature * 1975 – the

Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works The Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works, also known as the Levi Eshkol Literary Award, named after Israel's third Prime Minister, is an annual award granted to writers in the Hebrew language. The prize was established in 1969. Abou ...

* 1979 – the awarded by the Municipality of Holon

Works

Yonatan published his first poem, “When Ships Put Out to Sea”, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, in 1940 at age 16 before the establishment of the State of Israel, and soon became one of modern Israel's most read and beloved poets. Notwithstanding the subtle complexity of his use of Hebrew's many registers and intertexts, Yonatan’s lyricism lends itself to musical composition. Dozens of his poems have become traditional favorites, set to music by Israel's foremost songwriters and

composers A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Yonatan’s poems are sung and broadcast for national occasions, both festive and mournful.

Writings; books

* ''Dusty Paths'' (poems), Sifriat Poalim, 1951 * ''To the Fallow Land'' (poems for children), Sifriat Poalim, 1954 * ''Once We Loved'' (poems), Sifriat Poalim, 1957 * ''Between Spring and a Cloud'' (stories for teens), Sifriat Poalim, 1959 * ''Once-Loved Dusty Paths'' (selected poems), Sifriat Poalim, 1960 * ''Poems Along the Shore'' (poems), Sifriat Poalim, 1962 * ''Lilac'' (stories for children), Sifriat Poalim, 1963 * ''Poems of Dust and Wind'' (poems for teens), Sifriat Poalim, 1965 * ''Till the End of Indian Summer'' (American travelogue), Sifriat Poalim, 1968 * ''Poems at Sea-Dusk'' (poems), Sifriat Poalim, 1970 * ''More Stories Between Spring and a Cloud'' (stories for teens), Sifriat Poalim, 1971 * ''Poems'' (Dedicated to Lior) (poems), Sifriat Poalim, 1974 * ''Stones in the Darkness'' (selected poems translated into English, trans. Richard Flantz and others), Sifriat Poalim, 1975 * ''Poems This Far'' (poems), Sifriat Poalim, 1979 Salt and Light (selected poems translated into Russian), Sifriat Poalim, 1980 * ''Pocket Collection'' (selections from 40 years of poetry), Hakibbutz Hameuchad, 1982 * ''Shores'' (100 poems set to music, including both words and musical notation), Keter, 1983 * ''Other Poems'' (poems), Sifriat Poalim, 1984 * ''Itzik Manger—Selected Poems'' (translations from Yiddish to Hebrew), Keter, 1987 * ''Poems on the Mountain Ranges'' (poems), Zmora-Bitan, 1988 * ''Poems with Love'' (collected love poems), Sifriat Poalim, 1990 * ''Poems on Earth and Water'' (collected poems about the land), Sifriat Poalim, 1993 * ''Veiled Faced is Time'' (poems), Sifriat Poalim, 1995 * ''Salt and Light'' (selected poems translated into Bulgarian), Sifriat Poalim, 1995 * ''Poetry’s Grace'' (collected poems on the art of poetry), Sifriat Poalim, 1996 * ''Gleanings and Forgotten Sheaves'' (selected poems), Sifriat Poalim, 1997 * ''Poems on “Sefer Hayashar”'' (poems inspired by the Bible and other traditional Jewish sources, with landscape photography), Or-Am, 1998 * ''Poems Cloaked in Evening'' (poetry anthology selected and edited by Natan Yonatan, published two days after his death), Yediot Ahronot, 2004. * ''Within the Song to Live'' (Hebrew-English anthology, trans. Janice Silverman Rebibo and others, music CD, composer: Gidi Koren, performed by The Brothers and the Sisters), Gefen Jerusalem & NY, 2005.

References

External links

Website dedicated to Natan Yonatan

Yonatan at the Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature

In Memory of Natan Yonatan''Within the Song to Live'' by Natan Yonatan, audio clips and reviews
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070927012623/http://www.azure.org.il/magazine/magazine.asp?id=42 Natan Yonatan on ''The Next Fifty Years''