Manuela Dviri Vitali Norsa (born 1949 in

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, Italy), is an Israeli

Journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

Peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...

and

Author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, who lives in

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 ...

, Israel and in Virgoletta, a small town in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Biography

She moved to

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 ...

in 1968 after her marriage with a young Israeli. She graduated in English and French literature and began her professional career as a high school teacher and later in an institute for mentally disabled children. She later worked at the

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli unive ...

in the area of

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

. On February 26, 1998, her 21-year-old son, Jonathan, who was serving in the

Israeli Army The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branc ...

, was killed during a confrontation with

Hezbollah Hezbollah (; ar, حزب الله ', , also transliterated Hizbullah or Hizballah, among others) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992. Hezbollah's parami ...

. She has promoted innumerable protest activities and published in some prestigious Israeli journals on the topic. After the Israeli Army withdrew from

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

on May 25, 2000, to the UN-agreed Israeli border, she continued her political work as an opinion maker.

Activism and awards

Manuela Dviri is active in different pacifist groups that seek a dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. She is the author of a book of stories, some poetry collections and a translation of children's books. In 2002, she won ''The High Quality Award.'' In 2004, she was awarded the prestigious

Viareggio Prize The Viareggio Prize ( it, Premio Viareggio, italic=no or ) is an Italian literary prize, first awarded in 1930. Named after the Tuscan city of Viareggio, it was conceived by three friends, , Carlo Salsa and Leonida Rèpaci, to rival the Milanese ...

together with the Palestinian writer

Suad Amiry Suad Amiry ( ar, سعاد العامري) (born 1951) is an author and architect living in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Education She studied architecture at the American University of Beirut, the University of Michigan, and the University of ...

. In 2005, she received the Peres Award for Peace and Reconciliation for her involvement with ''Saving Children'', an Israeli-Palestinian project which refers Palestinian children to Israeli hospitals for free treatment. Her theatre piece ''Land of milk and honey'' (''Terra di latte e miele''), was written in collaboration with Silvano Piccardi, was premiered internationally in 2003 at Paris, France. She was also awarded the ''Cavaliere dell'Ordine della Stella d'Italia'' by then

Italian President The president of Italy, officially denoted as president of the Italian Republic ( it, Presidente della Repubblica Italiana) is the head of state of Italy. In that role, the president represents national unity, and guarantees that Italian poli ...

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who served as president of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first Italian president to be re-elected to the presidency. Due to his dominant position in Italian politics, some critics ...

Works

* ''Chocolate egg'' (Beitza shel Shokolad), 2000. * ''Land of milk and honey'' (theater piece) 2003. * ''La guerra negli occhi: diario da Tel Aviv'', Avagliano, Cava de' Tirreni, 2003. * ''Vita nella terra di latte e miele'', Ponte alle Grazie, Milan, 2004. * ''Shalom, Omri. Salam, Ziaad'', Sinnos, Roma, 2007. * ''Un mondo senza noi'', Piemme, Milan, 2015. * ''A World Without Us'', ServiziCulturali, Italy, 2017. * ''Il nonno, Morris e io'', (Italian translation of the book by Miryam Chanoch), ServiziCulturali, Italy, 2020.

Literary and journalistic awards

* Journalist Award ''Corrado Alvaro'', 2003 * Journalist Award ''Menzione Speciale Premio Valitutti'', 2003 * Literary Award ''Premio Viareggio Repaci Internazionale'', 2004 * Literary Award ''Premio Feudo di Maida'', 2004 * Literary Award ''Premio Molinello'' 2005 * Literary Award ''Melvin Jones Fellow'' - Lyons Internazional, 2007

Prizes for peace

* Prize Granarolo “Alta qualità 2002” (Italy) * Prize “Fumagalli 2003" (Italy) * Prize “Solidarietà 2004”, Pisa (Italy) * Prize “Solidarity e Pace 2004“ Cassino (Italy) * Prize “Sette luglio 1944” Carrara (Italy) * Prize “Peace and Reconciliation Award” 2005, Peres Center, Tel Aviv (Israel) * Prize “Al Servizio degli Ultimi 2006” (Italy) * Cavaliere dell'Ordine della stella della solidarietà italiana - Italian Republic, Roma, 12 gennaio 2007 * Prize Internazionale "Ator Pal Mont" 2013, Udine (Italy) * Prize "Fondazione Ducci per la Pace" 2014, Roma (Italy) * Prize Internazionale Semplicemente Donna 2014, Arezzo (Italy)"4° edizione Premio Internazionale Semplicemente Donna"
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References

External links

Jewish Theatre

Link to Manuela Dviri Official Blog (in Italian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dviri 1949 births Living people 20th-century Italian Jews Jewish women writers Italian emigrants to Israel Writers from Padua Israeli women writers Date of birth missing (living people)