Benjamin Tammuz (; 11 July 1919 – 19 July 1989) was an Israeli writer and artist who contributed to

Israeli culture The culture of Israel is closely associated with Jewish culture and rooted in the Jewish history of the Jewish diaspora, diaspora and Zionism, Zionist movement. It has also been influenced by Arab culture and the history and traditions of the Ara ...

in many disciplines, as a novelist, journalist, critic, painter, and sculptor. Benjamin Tammuz was born in

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

. When he was five years old, he emigrated with his parents to Palestine, where he subsequently attended the Tachkemoni school and the

Herzliya Hebrew High School The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium (, also known as ''Gymnasia Herzliya''), originally known as HaGymnasia HaIvrit (lit. Hebrew High School) is a historic high school in Tel Aviv, Israel, whose faculty and alumni includes many people influential in t ...

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 ...

. From an early age, he engaged in writing, sculpture, and painting. He also took an avid interest in

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

, going on to study that subject at the Sorbonne in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. While growing up, he became a member of the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

underground. As a youth he was a member of the Canaanite movement. More than his teachers and friends, the artist

Yitzhak Danziger Yitzhak Danziger (; 26 June 1916 – 11 July 1977) was an Israeli sculptor. He was one of the pioneer sculptors of the Canaanite Movement, and later joined the " Ofakim Hadashim" (New Horizons) group. Early life Danziger was born in Be ...

was an influence on him. In 1948, Tammuz joined the editorial board of ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

''. At first he wrote the popular column "Uzi & Co." Later he edited the children's newspaper ''Haaretz Shelanu''. From 1965, he edited ''Haaretzs literary and cultural supplement, serving as the art critic there. From 1971 to 1975, he served as cultural attaché at the Israeli embassy in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. From 1979 to 1984, he was invited as a writer-in-residence at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a 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 second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. Benjamin Tammuz died in 1989 in Tel Aviv. Tammuz has two sons. The elder son is Onn Tammuz, an architect and a fine art restorer and the younger son is

Jonathan Tammuz Jonathan Tammuz is a British-Canadian film director, best known for directing the short film ''The Childeater'' and the feature film ''Rupert's Land''. ''The Childeater'' was a shortlisted Academy Award nominee for Best Live Action Short Film at t ...

, a film director whose films have included a 1997 adaptation of his father's novel ''Minotaur''. Pilots Memorial in Tel Aviv

Books published in English

*''A Castle in Spain'' (1973), translation of ''Be-Sof Ma'arav'' (1966) *''A Rare Cure'' (stories, 1981), translation of ''Angioxyl, Terufah Nedirah'' (1973) *''

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...

'' (1981), translation of the Hebrew-language novel of the same title (1980) *''Requiem for Na'aman'' (1982), translation of ''Requiem Le-Na'aman'' (1978) *''The Orchard'' (novella, 1984), translation of ''Ha-Pardes'' (1972)

References

Benjamin Tammuz
at the Institute for Translation of Hebrew Literature. Retrieved November 21, 2005. 1919 births 1989 deaths Israeli literary critics Israeli novelists Israeli sculptors Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium alumni University of Paris alumni Canaanites (movement) Soviet emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Soviet Jews Place of birth missing People associated with the University of Oxford 20th-century Israeli novelists 20th-century Israeli sculptors 20th-century Israeli male writers 20th-century Israeli journalists Israeli expatriates in France Israeli expatriates in the United Kingdom {{Asia-sculptor-stub Burials at South Cemetery in Israel