Jacob Steinberg (September 1, 1887– June 22, 1947) was a major
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* Som ...
-born poet in
Mandatory 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 ...
.
Biography
Jacob Steinberg was born in
Bila Tserkva
Bila Tserkva ( uk, Бі́ла Це́рква ; ) is a city in the center of Ukraine, the largest city in Kyiv Oblast (after Kyiv, which is the administrative center, but not part of the oblast), and part of the Right Bank. It serves as the adm ...
, but ran off to
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrat ...
when he was 14, joining
Bialik Bialik was originally a Polish/Czech surname before it was adopted by the Ashkenazi Jewish population. The name probably originated from the Polish word Biały (meaning white) used a nickname for a blond or unusually pale person. People with this na ...
and other Jewish intellectuals of the
Hebrew literary circle there.
In 1903 Steinberg moved to
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...
, and participated in
Peretz's literary circle. In 1910 he moved to
Switzerland, studying in university at
Bern and
Lucerne
Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...
. He soon returned to Warsaw. During those years, he published works in Hebrew and
Yiddish, especially in the Yiddish newspaper "Der Fraind" (). While still in Europe, he married and divorced a dentist with whom he had one son.
In 1914, Steinberg immigrated to Palestine, and wrote exclusively in Hebrew ever since.
In 1929, he married Liza Arlosoroff, a musician, and sister of
Haim Arlosoroff
Haim Arlosoroff (February 23, 1899 – June 16, 1933; also known as Chaim Arlozorov; he, חיים ארלוזורוב) was a Socialist Zionist leader of the Yishuv during the British Mandate for Palestine, prior to the establishment of Isr ...
, and later edited Haim Arlosoroff's writings.
He remained in Tel Aviv for the rest of his life, though he briefly lived in Berlin in the 1920s. He received the
Bialik Prize
The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, ...
in 1937.
Literary style
He defied trends in two significant ways: his poetry was individualistic rather than nationalistic, and he wrote in the
Ashkenazic
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
dialect rather than the
Sephardic dialect, which became the accepted norm of Israeli Hebrew. His two most famous poems are "Not an enclosed Garden" and "Confession".
See also
*
Israeli literature
Israeli literature is literature written in the State of Israel by Israelis. Most works classed as Israeli literature are written in the Hebrew language, although some Israeli authors write in Yiddish, English, Arabic and Russian. History ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
1887 births
1947 deaths
Ukrainian Ashkenazi Jews
People of Ukrainian-Jewish descent
Ashkenazi Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Jewish poets
Ukrainian male poets
Yiddish-language playwrights
20th-century poets
20th-century dramatists and playwrights
Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire
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