Lea Goldberg

Vocation

Family

A prolific Hebrew-language poet, author, playwright, literary translator, and comparative literary researcher. Her writings are considered classics of Israeli literature and remain very popular among Hebrew speaking Israelis.Goldberg and her mother became very close and lived together until Goldberg's death. Goldberg received a PhD from the Universities of Berlin and Bonn in Semitic languages and German. Her scholarship and renown was such that a leading newspaper in Palestine excitedly reported her plans to immigrate to Palestine. In 1935, she settled in Tel Aviv, where she joined a group of Zionist Hebrew poets of Eastern-European origin. This group was led by Avraham Shlonsky, and was characterised by adhering to Symbolism especially in its Russian Acmeist form, and rejecting the style of Hebrew poetry that was common among the older generation, particularly that of Haim Nachman Bialik. In Tel Aviv Goldberg worked as a high-school teacher and wrote in the Hebrew newspapers Davar, and Al HaMishmar, including its children's magazine "Mishmar Liyladim". She later worked as a literary adviser to Habimah, the national theater, and an editor for the publishing company Sifriyat HaPoalim ("Workers' Library"). In 1954, she became a lecturer in literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. From 1963, she headed the university's Department of Comparative Literature. She never married and lived with her mother, in Tel Aviv and later Jerusalem. Goldberg wrote Hebrew poetry, drama, and children's literature. With exemplary knowledge of seven languages, Goldberg also translated numerous foreign literary works exclusively into Modern Hebrew from Russian, Lithuanian, German, Italian, French, and English. Of particular note, Tolstoy's epic novel War and Peace – her magnum opus, as well as completing translations of Rilke, Mann, Chekov, Veraline, Akmatova, Shakespeare, and Petrarch, among others, plus many other works including reference books and works for children. She is Israel's most beloved poet. A heavy smoker, she died on 15 January 1970 of lung cancer. Goldberg received in 1949 the Ruppin Prize and on 11 May 1970, 4 months after her death, the Israel Prize for literature. In 2011, Goldberg was announced as one of four great Israeli poets who would appear on Israel's currency. Link to Wikipedia biography