Aharon Megged
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Aharon Megged (; 10 August 1920 – 23 March 2016) ( Hebrew year 5680) was an Israeli author and playwright, a winner of multiple literary awards.


Biography

Aharon Greenberg (later Megged) was born in
Włocławek Włocławek (; or ''Alt Lesle'', Yiddish: וולאָצלאַוועק, romanized: ''Vlatzlavek'') is a city in the Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship in central Poland along the Vistula River, bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. In 1926, he
immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
with his parents to
Mandate Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordanwhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesfollowing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in Wo ...
. He grew up in
Ra'anana Ra'anana () is an affluent city in the southern Sharon, Israel, Sharon Plain of the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. It was founded in 1922 as an American-Jewish settlement, 1 km south of the village of Tabsur, where a ...
, attending Herzliya high school in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
. After graduation, he joined a Zionist pioneering youth movement
HaMahanot HaOlim Hamahanot Haolim (, ) is an Israeli youth study group with Zionist and socialist philosophy. Founded in 1926, there are currently over fifty branches and over 10,000 members throughout Israel. Hamahanot Haolim's aim is to better Israeli society by ...
, training at
Kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
Giv'at Brenner. He was a member of Kibbutz
Sdot Yam Sdot Yam (, ''lit.'' Sea Fields) is a kibbutz in the Haifa District of Israel. Located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council. In it had a population of . It was founded in 1936 ...
for twelve years. He left the kibbutz in 1951.A friend of a friend
Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Je ...
Megged was married to author Eda Zoritte, with whom he had two children.


Literary career

Megged was one of the founders of the ''Masa'' literary weekly, and its editor for fifteen years. He worked as a literary editor for the
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 ...
newspapers '' La-merhav'' and ''
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 ...
''. In 1977/78 he was author-in-residence at the Center for Hebrew Studies affiliated with the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. He made several lecture tours of the United States, and was also author-in-residence at the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
. He published 35 books. Megged's plays were performed at Habima, Ha-Ohel and other theaters. His books have been translated into numerous languages and published in the United Kingdom, the United States,
Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
, France, and other countries. His books ''Hedva and I'' (1954), ''Fortunes of a Fool'' (1960), ''The Living and the Dead'' (1965), and ''The Short Life'' (1972) show contrast between idealistic kibbutzniks and materialistic city dwellers.


Diplomatic career

From 1968 to 1971, Megged was
cultural attaché Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...
to the Israeli embassy in London.


Awards and recognition

*1954: for the book . The book was the base of the TV series *1974: Megged won 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 his books ''The Evyatar Notebooks: a novel'' and ''Of Trees and Stones''. *2003: he was awarded the
Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...
, for literature. *2004: Koret Jewish Book Award for the translated ''Foiglman'' in fiction category, tied with Barbara Honigmann’s “A Love Made Out of Nothing” and “Zohara’s Journey” (David R. Godine)Berkeley Kabbalah scholar wins Koret Book Award
March 5, 2004
Megged also won 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 ...
, the S.Y. Agnon Prize, and the Prime Minister's Prize. Aharon Megged
Jewish Virtual Library, reprinted from a publication by the Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature


Translated books

Only a small part of his books were translated: *Fortunes of a Fool *The Living on the Dead *Asahel *The Short Life *Hedva and I (Spanish, English, Russian, French) *The Flying Camel and the Golden Hump *Of Trees and Stones *Foiglman *Heinz, His Son, and the Evil Spirit *The Children's Journey to the Promised Land *Till Evening Falls *Hanna Senesz (play) *The First Sin (play)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Megged, Aharon 1920 births 2016 deaths People from Włocławek People from Warsaw Voivodeship (1919–1939) Israel Prize in literature recipients Brenner Prize recipients Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium alumni Israeli male dramatists and playwrights Israeli literary critics International Writing Program alumni Israeli expatriates in the United Kingdom Israeli expatriates in the United States Recipients of Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works Cultural attachés Burials at Kinneret Cemetery Bialik Prize recipients