Natan Zach
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Nathan Zach (; 13 December 1930 – 6 November 2020) was an Israeli poet. Widely regarded as one of the preeminent poets in the country's history, 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 ...
in 1995 for
poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
. He was also the recipient of other national and international awards. Zach was a professor of
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 ...
and
comparative literature Comparative literature studies is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across language, linguistic, national, geographic, and discipline, disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role ...
at the
University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...
.


Biography

Born in Berlin to a German-Jewish officer and an Italian Catholic mother, the Seitelbach family fled to the
Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...
in 1936 following the rise of the
Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
. The family settled in
Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...
. He served in the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
as an intelligence clerk during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
. In 1955, he published his first collection of poetry (''Shirim Rishonim'', ), and also translated numerous German plays for the Hebrew stage. At the vanguard of a group of poets who began to publish after Israel's re-establishment, Zach has had a great influence on the development of modern Hebrew poetry as editor and critic, as well as translator and poet. Distinguishing him among the poets of the generation of the 1950s and 1960s is his poetic manifesto ime and Rhythm in Bergson and in Modern (Hebrew) Poetry Zach has been one of the most important innovators in Hebrew poetry since the 1950s, and he is well known in Israel also for his translations of the poetry of
Else Lasker-Schüler Else Lasker-Schüler (née Elisabeth Schüler) (; 11 February 1869 – 22 January 1945) was a German poet and playwright famous for her bohemian lifestyle in Berlin and her poetry. She was one of the few women affiliated with the Expressionist ...
and
Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...
. The literary scholar
Nili Rachel Scharf Gold Nili Rachel Scharf Gold (; born 1948) is an Israeli-American professor of modern Hebrew language and literature in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. Taking an interdisciplinary approach t ...
has pointed to Zach as an exemplar illustrating the role of "Mother Tongue" culture, in his case vis-a-vis German, on modern Hebrew literature. Zach's essay, “Thoughts on Alterman’s Poetry,” which was published in the magazine ''Achshav'' (''Now'') in 1959 was an important manifesto for the rebellion of the ''Likrat'' (''Towards'') group against the lyrical pathos of the Zionist poets, as it included an unusual attack on
Nathan Alterman Nathan Alterman (; August 14, 1910 – March 28, 1970) was an Israeli poet, playwright, journalist, and translator. Though never holding any elected office, Alterman was highly influential in Labor Zionist politics, both before and after the es ...
, who was one of the most important and esteemed poets in the country. In the essay Zach decides upon new rules for poetry. The new rules that Zach presented were different from the rules of rhyme and meter which were customary in the nation’s poetry at the time. From 1960 to 1967, Zach lectured in several institutes of higher education both in Tel Aviv and Haifa. From 1968 to 1979 he lived in England and completed his
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
at the
University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...
. After returning to Israel, he lectured at
Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...
and was appointed professor at the
University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...
. He has been chairman of the repertoire board of both the Ohel and
Cameri Cameri is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Novara in the Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northeast of Novara. Cameri borders the following municipalities: Bellinzago Novarese, Caltignaga ...
theaters. In his final years, Zach struggled with a worsening
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
, forcing him to reside in an
assisted living An assisted living residence or assisted living facility (ALF) is a housing facility for people with disabilities or for adults who cannot or who choose not to live independently. The term is popular in the United States. Still, the setting i ...
facility. Zach died in November 2020, at age 89.


Awards and critical acclaim

Internationally acclaimed, Zach has been called "the most articulate and insistent spokesman of the modernist movement in Hebrew poetry". He is one of the best known Israeli poets abroad. * In 1982, Zach was awarded 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
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
. * In 1993, he was awarded the Feronia Prize (Rome). * In 1995, 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 Hebrew poetry.


Controversy

In July 2010 Zach was interviewed on Israel's Channel 10 and accused
Mizrahi Jews Mizrahi Jews (), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () in plural and ''Mizrahi'' () in singular, and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are terms used in Israeli discourse to refer to a grouping of Jews, Jewish c ...
from Muslim countries of having an inferior culture to that of Jews from Europe; "The idea of taking people who have nothing in common arose. The one lot comes from the highest culture there is — Western European culture — and the other lot comes from the caves." The
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
comments resulted in a petition to remove his work from the educational curriculum but it was denied. Zach later apologized.


Published works

* At three (1953) * First Poems (1955) * Other Poems (1960) * All the Milk and Honey (1966) * Time and Rhythm in Bergson and in Modern Poetry (1966) * Theatre of the Absurd (1971) - London, Artist Book, collaboration with artist
Maty Grunberg Maty Grunberg (; born 1943), is an Israeli sculptor and known also for his Artist's book, Artist Books. Biography Maty Grunberg was born in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, Macedonia, the former Yugoslavia. In the year 1948 M.G. immigrated to Isra ...
* Book of Esther (1975) - London, free translation, collaboration with artist
Maty Grunberg Maty Grunberg (; born 1943), is an Israeli sculptor and known also for his Artist's book, Artist Books. Biography Maty Grunberg was born in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia, Macedonia, the former Yugoslavia. In the year 1948 M.G. immigrated to Isra ...
* Northeasterly (1979) * Anti-erasure (1984) * Dog and Bitch Poems (1990) * Because I'm Around (1996) * Death of My Mother (1997) * Because Man is the Tree of the Field (1999) * A story about the little people (2001) * The Great Eagle (2001) * The Bee Dvora (2001) * The nightingale no longer lives here (2004) * The Needle Monkey (2004) * All the songs and new songs (2008) * From year to year (2009) * From the place where we were not to the place where we will not be (2013) * They say it's really beautiful there (2016)


See also

*
List of Israel Prize recipients This is an incomplete list of recipients of the Israel Prize from the inception of the Prize in 1953 - 2025. List For each year, the recipients are, in most instances, listed in the order in which they appear on the official Israel Prize website ...
*
List of Bialik Prize recipients 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 ( ...


References


External links

* Admiel Kosman: On terms of Time and the Theological perception of Zach: Reading the Poem ‘Ani Rotze Tamid Eynayim`, in Dorit Weissman (ed.), Makom LeShirah: http://www.poetryplace.org/index.php/online-magazine/-2011/gilayon-42/807 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zach, Nathan 1930 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Israeli poets Academic staff of the University of Haifa Academic staff of Tel Aviv University Israel Prize in Hebrew poetry recipients Alumni of the University of Essex Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine Israeli expatriates in England Israeli male poets 20th-century Israeli male writers Recipients of Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Israel Bialik Prize recipients