Keren Pevzner ( he, קרן פבזנר, née ''Kira Gennadievna Konovalova''; born May 8, 1961, in
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
,
Azerbaijan SSR
Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...
) who also goes by the pen name Katerina Vrublevskaya as vintage crime fictions author, is an Israeli novel and essay writer,
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and computer science teacher, translator, author of a number of textbooks, cookbooks, and encyclopedias, and blogger. In the past, she was the Coordinator in the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, as well as in the in
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
Biography
Kira Konovalova was born on May 8, 1961, in
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
. She comes from an old family of Bakuvian oil engineers. Her great grandfathers were European specialists (the Jews and the Germans) who participated in the conducted by
Branobel
The Petroleum Production Company Nobel Brothers, Limited, or Branobel (short for братьев Нобель "brat'yev Nobel" — "Nobel Brothers" in Russian), was an oil company set up by Ludvig Nobel and Baron Peter von Bilderling. It operated ...
Caspian oil-field development, at the invitation of
Zeynalabdin Taghiyev
, image = Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev.jpg
, image_size = 250px
, caption =
, birth_date = 25 January 1823Gustav Wilhelm Richard Sorge, the father of renowned soviet spy Richard Sorge. Later, he took a job with the Caspian Steamship Company. In 1938, he fell victim of the
Great Purge
The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...
(Stalinists repressions) and was executed.
Kira attended the 20th Secondary School in Baku, then she went to
Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University
Azerbaijan State Oil and Industrial University (formerly Azerbaijan State Oil Academy) ( az, Azərbaycan Dövlət Neft və Sənaye Universiteti, Азәрбајҹан Дөвләт Нефт вә Сәнаје Университети (ADNSU)) is a ter ...
where earlier have studied her grandmother and both parents, and graduated with a specialty of Electrical Engineer. After graduation, she was taking a position in the AzerElectroTherm Research and Production Association (russian: НПО «АзерЭлектроТерм»).
Keren repatriated to Israel in 1990, together with her second husband and her eldest son. She tried her hand at a great number of trades from a
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...
worker and grocery store owner to Hebrew language teaching and employment with the Ministry of Absorption Israel. Currently, she resides in Ashkelon, and as her primary occupation engages in teaching at the Сollege of Computer science for public jobholders in Israel. Additionally, Keren busies herself with educational literature writing and publishing.
As a delegate, she was present at the Conference of the Azerbaijan-Israel Friendship Society.
From 2008, Keren writes the "Culinary commentary" column on
Booknik
Booknik, Jewish Texts and Themes is an Internet publication in Russian on Jewish literature and culture. Its Editor In Chief is Sergey Kuznetsov. Prominent authors, journalists, literary translators, philologists, Hebraists, historians, etc. ar ...
, the Web resource and publication in Russian on Jewish literature and culture.
Under the pen name "Kirulya of Ashkelon" (russian: Кируля Аскалонская) is blogging on LiveJournal.
She also has a blog on
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
.
Keren has two sons and two granddaughters.
Works
According to her own story, Keren undertook her first attempts in writing at around eight years old.
Keren Pevzner's first published book (1997, Miry Publishing Company) was The Parallel Ulpan, a Hebrew self-teaching guide in two volumes. She wrote it for two years on the suggestion from the writer
Daniel Kluger
Daniel (Daniil) Kluger, russian: Даниэль (Даниил) Мусеевич Клугер (born October 8, 1951) is an Israeli writer in science fiction and detective genres. He writes in Russian language.
Born in the former Soviet Union (Ukr ...
who has attended her course. This book effectively carved out a niche of textbooks for self-teaching written in plain language for Russian-speaking repatriates (afterward, as well as for Hebrew self-study in Diaspora, for example in Russia and in Canada), and ever since it went through eleven editions at least.
Keren's first work of fiction was a crime story, The Murderer's Confession. It was written in 1999 and was published the same year in .
Cumulative bibliography
Fictional works
Crime Fictions
Crime fiction series of Valeriya Vishnevskaya (were published in Iskatel and Iskatel's World Magazines):
* the novel, ''The Murderer's Confession'' (Исповедь убийцы) — Iskatel Magazine, 3-1999.
* the story, ''The Real Estate Tax'' (Налог на недвижимость) — Iskatel's World Magazine, 6-1999.
* the story, ''The Purely Jewish Murder'' (Чисто еврейское убийство) — Iskatel Magazine, 10-1999.
* the story, ''The Pilgrim's Death'' (Смерть пилигрима) — Iskatel Magazine, 1-2000.
* the story, ''The Saxofonist's Death'' (Смерть саксофониста) — Iskatel's World Magazine № 4 за 2000 год.
* the story, ''Her Last Cruise'' (Её последний круиз) — Iskatel's World Magazine № 10 за 2001 год.
* the story, ''The Lamp of Pharaoh'' (Светильник фараона) — Iskatel Magazine № 2 за 2004 год.
* the story, ''Seeking Out/In Search of a Golem'' (В поисках Голема) — (2004).
Vintage Crime Fiction Novels of Apollinariya Avilova
* ''The Apollinariya Aviliva's First Case'' (Первое дело Аполлинарии Авиловой) — Prosodiya Publishing Company (2002, 50.000 copies). Later, the novel was reissued in Book Club 36,6 Publishing Company in Crime Fiction by Woman’s Pen series (2005, 5.000 copies, ).
* ''The Case of Lost/Vanished Talisman'' (Дело о пропавшем талисмане) — Prosodiya Publishing Company (2003, 50.000 copies, ). Reissued in Book Club 36,6 Publishing Company (2006, 5.000 copies).
* ''The Case of Antique Portrait'' (Дело о старинном портрете) — Book Club 36,6 Publishing Company (2006, 5.000 copies, ).
* ''The Case of Rubies of Queen of Sheba'' (Дело о рубинах царицы Савской) — was issued together with the novel The Crown/Tiara of King Saitafern by Boris Vorobyov in World Classic series (Iskatel's World) in Iskatel Publishing Company (2006, 2700 copies, ). Later, the novel was issued in Ivrus Publishing (Tel Aviv, 2008).
* ''Notice to a Beginning Mistress/Concubine… and all sorts of odds and ends'' (Памятка начинающей любовнице… и всякая всячина)
* ''Keren Spins Yarns… (Studies of Life, Love, and Faraway Lands)'' (Керен рассказывает… (этюды о жизни, любви и дальних странах))
Books of Specialized Subjects
(by default, all the books were issued by SeferIsrael,
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
)
Hebrew and Israeli records management textbooks, phrasebooks, language for specific purposes/subject oriented/specialized dictionaries (Russian↔Hebrew)
* Self-teaching textbook ''The Parallel Ulpan'' (Параллельный ульпан), — the original edition of 1997. It went through eleven editions at least. Since the third edition, was enhanced with the second volume in the form of reading-book under the editorship of Prof. . The total print is 22.000 copies at least.
* ''May I Ask'' (Позвольте спросить) phrasebook — Miry Publishing Company (1998), reissued by SeferIsrael in 2003 () and 2009.
* ''The Mini Sihon'' (Mini Сихон) phrasebook (, 2004)
* ''The Super Sihon'' (Super Сихон) phrasebook () under the editorship of A.Solomonik; by the year 2009 went through six editions.
* The Electrician Dictionary (2010)
* The Programmer Dictionary (2010)
* The Accountant Modern Dictionary
* The Musical Dictionary
* Please Meet the FORM (practical suggestions/tips) (; two issues in 2002 and 2010)
* Please Meet the FORM (practical suggestions/tips) (two issues)
* Microsoft WORD In Hebrew And In Russian (2012)
The Popular Encyclopedies
* The Jewish Names (2002, )
* Israeli Fish Dishes (2007, )
* The Israel Healthful And Kitchen Herbs encyclopedia (seven issues, )
* Israeli Salads (three issues, )
* Israeli Juices (2009, )
* ''How They Eat in Israel?'' (Как едят в Израиле?) (2010, ) — the collection of essays originally published at the «Booknik»