Ephraim Kishon (; August 23, 1924 – January 29, 2005) was a Hungarian-born Israeli author,

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-nominated

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

. He was one of the most widely read contemporary

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Early satirical authors *Aes ...

s in Israel and was also particularly popular in German-speaking countries.Ephraim Kishon, 80, Holocaust Survivor Who Became Satirist
*The New York Times*, 30 January 2005Obituaries: Ephraim Kishon
*The Guardian*, 1 February 2005

Biography

Ephraim Kishon was born on August 23, 1924, by the name of Ferenc Hoffmann into a middle-class Jewish family in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Hungary. In his youth he knew neither

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 ...

nor

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

. His father worked as a bank manager and his mother was a former secretary. Kishon also had a sister who was a writer. His writing talent became evident in his youth. In 1940 he won his first prize for writing a novel for high school students. Due to the racial laws applied in Hungary during World War II, he was not allowed to continue his studies at the university and therefore he began to study

jewelry making Jewellery design is the art or profession of designing and creating jewellery. It is one of civilization's earliest forms of decoration, dating back at least 7,000 years to the oldest-known human societies in Indus Valley Civilization, Mesopota ...

in 1942. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

imprisoned him in several

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

. At one camp his

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

talent helped him survive, as he played chess with the guards. In another camp, the Germans lined up the inmates and shot every tenth person, but passed him by. He later wrote in his book ''The Scapegoat'', "They made a mistake—they left one satirist alive". He eventually managed to escape the concentration camps while being transported to the

Sobibor extermination camp Sobibor ( ; ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), ...

in Nazi German Occupied Poland, and hid the remainder of the war disguised as "Stanko Andras", a Slovak laborer. After the war when he returned to Budapest he discovered that his parents and sister had survived, but many other family members had been murdered in the

gas chambers A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Gener ...

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

. In 1945, he changed his surname from Hoffmann to Kishont and returned to Hungary, where he continued to study art and writing. In 1948 he completed his studies in metal sculpturing and art history and began publishing humorous articles under the name Franz Kishunt. In 1949 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- ...

to the newly founded state of Israel, together with his first wife Eva (Chawa) Klamer, to escape 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 ...

regime. When arriving in Israel an immigration officer officially Hebraicized his name to "Ephraim Kishon". According to Kishon, the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

clerk asked him for his name and when he answered "Ferenc" the clerk said: There is no such thing, and wrote "Ephraim", and afterwards he went ahead and Hebraicized his family name as well, Kishon being a river near Haifa, the Israeli city on

Mount Carmel Mount Carmel (; ), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (; ), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situat ...

. His first marriage to Eva (Chawa) Klamer in 1946 ended in

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

. In 1959, he married

Sara Sara may refer to: People * Sara (given name), a feminine given name People with the given name * Sara Aboobacker (1936–2023), Indian writer and translator * Sara Ahmed (born 1969), British-Australian writer * Sara Allgood (1880–1950), Ir ...

(''née'' Lipovitz), who died in 2002. In 2003, he married the Austrian writer Lisa Witasek. Kishon had three children: Raphael (b. 1957), Amir (b. 1963), and Renana (b. 1968). In 1981, Kishon established a second home in the rural Swiss canton of

Appenzell Appenzell () was a cantons of Switzerland, canton in the northeast of Switzerland, and entirely surrounded by the canton of St. Gallen, in existence from 1403 to 1597. Appenzell became independent of the Abbey of Saint Gall in 1403 and entered ...

as he felt unwelcome in Israel due to his status as an immigrant. Being a popular Israeli writer, he still felt he was getting negative treatment from the Israeli media due to the fact he was rather

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

in his political views. Kishon Rabin Shemi

Kishon died on January 29, 2005, at his home in Switzerland at the age of 80 following a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

. His body was flown to Israel and he was buried at the

Trumpeldor Cemetery Trumpeldor Cemetery (), often referred to as the "Old Cemetery," is a historic cemetery on Trumpeldor Street in Tel Aviv, Israel. The cemetery covers , and contains approximately 5,000 graves. History The cemetery was founded in 1902 on a tract ...

in Tel Aviv.

Literary career

Kishon initially lived in the "Sha'ar Ha'Aliyah" transit camp near Haifa, and soon afterwards moved to Kibbutz

Kfar Hahoresh Kfar HaHoresh () is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located near Nazareth, it falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The kibbutz was established in 1933 by members of the Gordonia y ...

, in which he worked as a nurse while learning the Hebrew language during his free time with the help of his neighbor Joseph Bilitzer. During this period he wrote several humorous lists for the Hungarian newspaper "

Új Kelet ''Új Kelet'' (; Hungarian translation: "New East") is a Hungarian-language Zionist Jewish newspaper published first in Kolozsvár (Cluj) in Transylvania, Romania in 1918. Prior to the annexation of Transylvania to Hungary in 1940 when it cease ...

". Afterwards Kishon moved to a housing project. He studied Hebrew at the

Ulpan An ulpan (), plural ''ulpanim'', is an institute or school for the intensive study of Hebrew. Ulpan is a Hebrew word meaning "studio", "teaching", or "instruction". The ulpan is designed to teach adult immigrants to Israel the basic language s ...

"Etzion" in Jerusalem, and soon became proficient in the language. Nevertheless, his heavy Hungarian accent accompanied him throughout his life. Mastering the Hebrew language with remarkable speed, in 1951 Kishon began writing a satirical column in the easy-Hebrew daily, ''Omer'', after only two years in the country. Later on Kishon began writing for the 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 ...

" (which was very influential at the time) in which he published a satire called "The Blaumilch Canal". That same year he published his first book in Israel "Ha-ole Ha-Yored le-Chayenu"- "The Pestering Immigrant", (a pun on the Hebrew word for "Immigrant") which was written in Hungarian and translated into Hebrew by

Avigdor Hameiri Avigdor Hameiri (Hebrew: אביגדור המאירי; September 16, 1890 – April 3, 1970) was a Hungarian-Israeli author. Biography Hameiri was born as Avigdor Menachem Feuerstein in 1890, in the village of Odavidhaza (near Munkatsch), Carpath ...

. The book was mostly about the life experiences of new immigrants in Israel during the 1950s. In 1952 Kishon began writing a regular satirical column called "Had Gadya" ("One Young Goat" in Aramaic, taken from the

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday and one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Biblical Egypt, Egypt. According to the Book of Exodus, God in ...

Seder The Passover Seder is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew day begins at su ...

liturgy) in the daily Hebrew tabloid "

Ma'ariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'', or ''Arbit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or at night. It consists primarily of the evening '' Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two ...

". Kishon kept writing the column for about 30 years, while in the first two decades he published a new column almost every day. Within a few years after launching his writing career in Israel Kishon became one of the most prominent humorists and satirists in the country. Orden wider den tierischen Ernst 1978

Kishon's extraordinary linguistic inventiveness and flair for creating characters was carried over into his work for the theater. Collections of his humorous writings have appeared in Hebrew and in translation. Among the English translations are ''Look Back Mrs. Lot'' (1960), ''Noah's Ark, Tourist Class'' (1962), ''The Seasick Whale'' (1965), and two books on the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

and its aftermath, ''So Sorry We Won'' (1967), and ''Woe to the Victors'' (1969). Two collections of his plays have also appeared in Hebrew: ''Shemo Holekh Lefanav'' (1953) and ''Ma´arkhonim'' (1959). Ephraim Kishon 2001 Dortmund

Kishon's books have been translated into 37 languages and sold particularly well in Germany. Kishon rejected the idea of universal guilt for the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. He said: “It gives me great satisfaction to see the grandchildren of my executioners queuing up to buy my books.” Until his death in 1979,

Friedrich Torberg Friedrich Torberg (16 September 1908, Vienna, Alsergrund – 10 November 1979, Vienna) is the pen-name of Friedrich Kantor, an Austrian writer. Biography He worked as a critic and journalist in Vienna and Prague until 1938, when his Jewish h ...

translated his work into German. Thereafter Kishon did the German translations himself.

Chess

Kishon was a lifelong chess enthusiast, and took an early interest in chess-playing computers. In 1990, German chess computer manufacturer Hegener & Glaser together with Fidelity produced the ''Kishon Chesster'', a chess computer distinguished by the spoken comments it would make during a game. Kishon wrote the comments to be humorous, but were also carefully chosen to be relevant to chess and the position in the game.

Books, plays, and films

Books

* ''Ha-ole Ha-Yored le-Chayenu'' (1951) * ''Thousand of Gadia and Gadia'' (1954) * ''Ein Kamonim'' (1955) * ''Do Not Worry'' (1957) * ''Sketches'' (1959) * ''It All Depends'' (1958) * ''Be-Echad Ha-Emeshim'' (1961) * ''He and She'' (1963) * ''Somersaults'' (1964) * ''Bone in the Throat'' (1966) * ''So Sorry We Won!'' (1967), with illustrations by Dosh * ''Gomzim Gomzim'' (1969) * ''For'' (1970) * ''Oh, Winners'' (1970) * ''Department of Ephraim Kishon'' (1972) * ''Wole in the Screen'' (1973) * ''Partachia my Love'' (1974) * The Mark of Cain: A Bitter Smile from Besieged Israel (1976) * ''My Family Right or Wrong'' (1977) * ''Smile drought'' (1978) * ''Family Book'' (1980–current) * ''Jonathan Voyage'' (1981), children book * ''The Cup is Ours'' (1981), children book * ''Uncles on the Wires'' (1981), children book * ''Unfinished Adventure'' (1981), children book * ''Gum with Stripes'' (1981), children book * ''Seven Comedies'' (1981) * ''Satire Book I'' (1981) * ''Arbinkea'' (1991) * ''Satire Book II'' (1991) * ''Satire Book III'' (1992) * ''58 Sketches'' (1995) * ''Ants War'' (1995) children books * ''Hercules and the Seven Midgets'' (1995) children books * ''The Taming of the Shrew Dog'' (1995) children books * ''Hairy, Hell'' (1998) * ''State Protocol'' (1999) * ''The Redhead with the Key'' (2002) children books * ''Book of Travels'' (2003) * ''Partachia'' (2004) * ''Picasso's Sweet Revenge'' (2004) PikiWiki Israel 50218 ephraim kishon

Plays

* ''His Reputation Precedes Him'' (1953) * ''Black on White'' (1957) * ''Ha-Ketubbah'' (1959) * ''No Word to Morgenstein'' (1960) * ''Take the Plug Out'' (1968) * ''Oh, oh, Juliet'' (1972) * ''Salah Shabati'' the musical (1988) * ''Open for Renovation'' (2004) not yet seen * ''The Policeman'' (2009) Kishon's sketches and plays have been translated and performed on stages and television networks worldwide.

Films

Kishon expanded into cinema in the early 1960s. He wrote, directed and produced five feature films, all of them comedic /satirical movies. Three movies were nominated for major international awards including the Golden Globe award (two wins) and the Oscar (two nominations): * ''

Sallah Shabati ''Sallah Shabati'' () is a 1964 Israeli comedy film about the chaos of Israeli immigration and resettlement, as well as the issues Mizrahi Jews faced in the developing Israeli society. This social satire placed the director Ephraim Kishon and p ...

'' (1964), nominated for Oscar for best foreign language film), Israeli comedy film about the chaos of Israeli immigration and resettlement which was critical of the treatment immigrants to Israel received depicting immigrants being vilified by Ashkenazi Israelis. This social satire placed the director Ephraim Kishon among the first Israeli filmmakers to achieve international success. It also introduced actor

Chaim Topol Chaim Topol (; 9 September 1935 – 8 March 2023), mononymously known as Topol, was an Israeli actor and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of Tevye, the lead role in the stage musical ''Fiddler on the Roof'' and the Fiddler on the Roof ...

(''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

'') to audiences worldwide. * ''

Ervinka ''Ervinka'' () is a 1967 Israeli film written and directed by Ephraim Kishon. The film, starring Chaim Topol (best known for his role as Tevye in ''Fiddler on the Roof''), is a comical tale of a con man who falls in love with a police officer. Pl ...

'' (1967), written and directed by Kishon. The film, starring Topol, is a comical tale of a con man who falls in love with a police officer. * ''

Blaumilch Canal Blaumilch Canal (international release title: The Big Dig) is a 1969 Israeli comedy satire written and directed by Ephraim Kishon, depicting the madness of bureaucracy through a municipality's reaction to the actions of a lunatic. The film is bas ...

'', also known as ''The Big Dig'' (1969, nominated for Golden Globe 1971), an Israeli comedy which depicts the madness of bureaucracy through a municipality's reaction to the actions of a lunatic. * ''

The Policeman ''The Policeman'' () is a 1971 Israeli feature film, written, directed and co-produced by satirist Ephraim Kishon. The touching protagonist `The Policeman Azoulay` is played by Shaike Ophir (credited as Shay K. Ophir), in what is considered one of ...

'', original Hebrew title ''Ha-Shoter Azoulay'' (literally, ''Constable Azoulay'') (1971, nominated for Oscar for best foreign language film, awarded 1972 Golden Globe for best foreign language film). It won several other awards, such as best foreign film in the Barcelona film festival and best director in the Monte Carlo festival. In Israel it is considered a cinematic classic. * ''

The Fox in the Chicken Coop ''The Fox in the Chicken Coop'' (Hebrew: , ''Ha Shu'al B'Lul Hatarnegolot'') is a 1978 Israeli film directed by Ephraim Kishon, based on Kishon's satirical book of the same name. It features many prominent Israeli actors of the time, most notably ...

'' (1978), based on Kishon's satirical book by the same name (Hebrew: Ha Shu'al B'Lool HaTarnegolot), features many prominent Israeli actors of the time, most notably

Shaike Ophir Shaike Ophir (; 4 November 1928 – 17 August 1987) was an Israeli film and theater actor, comedian, playwright, screenwriter, director, and the country's first mime. Early life Yeshayahu (Shaike) Goldstein-Ophir was born in Jerusalem. His famil ...

and Seffy Rivlin. The film takes a satirical, comic look at the old generation of Israeli politicians.

Awards

* 1953, Nordau Prize for Literature * 1958, Sokolov Prize for Journalism * 1964, Kinor David (David's Harp) Prize * 1970, Herzl Award for Hungarian Jewry: for literature * 1998, co-recipient (jointly with Nurit Guvrin and Aryeh Sivan) of 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

Hebrew literature Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews, mostly among the Arab cit ...

* 2002,

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 lifetime achievement & special contribution to society and the State of Israel Upon receiving the prize, he remarked: "I've won the Israel Prize, even though I'm pro-Israel. It's almost like a state pardon. They usually give it to one of those liberals who love the

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

and hate

the settlers ''The Settlers'' () is a City-building game, city-building and real-time strategy video game series created by Volker Wertich in 1993. The The Settlers (1993 video game), original game was released on the Amiga, with subsequent games released p ...

." Kishon was nominated twice for an

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

and three times for a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

Award. He won two Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film Awards, for ''Sallah Shabati'' (1964), and ''

'' (1971).

References

External links

Ephraim Kishon: Official website

Ephraim Kishon
at Israeli Dramatists Website

* ttps://archive.today/20210912010759/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ephraim-kishon-8z2qr0cq0f6 Ephraim KishonObituary, ondon The Times, February 2, 2005
Lives Remembered
Comments by Irene Lancaster and Victor Ross on the Times obituary. ondon The Times, ebruary 8, 2005br>The funniest man in the world: the wild and crazy humor of Ephraim Kishon
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. 1989 New York, Shapolsky Publishers; London, Prion * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kishon, Ephraim 1924 births 2005 deaths Hungarian Jews in Israel Hungarian Holocaust survivors Hungarian emigrants to Israel Israel Prize for lifetime achievement & special contribution to society recipients Israeli male dramatists and playwrights Israeli expatriates in Switzerland Israeli film directors Israeli humorists Israeli columnists Israeli male screenwriters Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Israeli male journalists Satirical film directors Israeli satirical novelists Israeli satirical columnists Jewish Israeli dramatists and playwrights Jewish Israeli screenwriters Jewish concentration camp survivors Jewish escapees from Nazi concentration camps Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century Israeli dramatists and playwrights Maariv (newspaper) people 20th-century Israeli screenwriters Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery Sokolov Award recipients Bialik Prize recipients 20th-century Israeli Jews 21st-century Israeli Jews 20th-century Hungarian Jews 21st-century Hungarian Jews