Miriam Shatal (מרים שתל; December 12, 1903 - 2006) was a Dutch-Israeli biologist, painter and composer of choral works.

Early life and education

Shatal was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, Netherlands, as Marianne Schifra "Jannie" Pinkhof. Miriam was the sister of Clara Asscher-Pinkhof, who went on to become a successful author of children's books. In 1929, Marianne obtained a PhD in biology from the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. In Germany in the 1930s, Marianne attempted to mediate conflict in the

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

movements that was occurring between Erich Rosenblüth and the youth movement led by

Henrietta Szold Henrietta Szold ( , ; December 21, 1860 – February 13, 1945) was a U.S. Jewish Zionist leader and founder of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. In 1942, she co-founded Ihud, a political party in Mandatory Palestine dedic ...

. In 1948 she moved to Israel, and in 1949 to the city of

Beersheba Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...

. She adopted the Hebrew first name of Miriam. In 1951 she joined a new choir in which she participated until 1985. From 1956 she started composing for her choir and from 1968 she also painted. Shatal took composition lessons with

Haim Alexander Haim Alexander (Hebrew: חיים אלכסנדר; August 9, 1915 – March 18, 2012) an Israeli composer. Biography Alexander was born in Berlin, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Cen ...

Paul Ben-Haim Paul Ben-Haim (or Paul Ben-Chaim, Hebrew: פאול בן חיים) (5 July 1897 – 14 January 1984) was an Israeli composer. Born Paul Frankenburger in Munich, Germany, he studied composition with Friedrich Klose and he was assistant conductor t ...

and Arthur Geidrun.

Personal life and legacy

In 1930, Marianne Pinkhof married Dr. Isidor "Ies" (Hebrew name: Yitzhak) Spangenthal, also from Amsterdam, with whom she had seven children. Yitzhak, who became a physician in Beersheba, hebraized their surname to Shatal. In 1988, Miriam Shatal received the beloved resident award from the Municipality of Beersheba, also for supporting Dr. Yitzhak Shatal in providing medical care under very difficult conditions. Shatal's correspondence with Paul Ben-Haim is archived at the

National Library of Israel The National Library of Israel (NLI; he, הספרייה הלאומית, translit=HaSifria HaLeumit; ar, المكتبة الوطنية في إسرائيل), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; he, בית הספרים הלא� ...

Compositions

Shatal's vocal compositions include: *''Al Har Gawoah'' (adapted for mixed chorus by M. Lushig) *“Echo” *''El Artsie'' (women's chorus) *''Four Ballads'' (voice and guitar) *''Heed'' (women's chorus) *''I Call Upon Thee'' (Hishba'ti Etchen; a cappella women's chorus) *Kina (women's chorus and violin) *''May Peace Be With You'' (Shalom Aleichem; a cappella mixed chorus) *“Prayer” *''

Psalm 104 Psalm 104 is the 104th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great". In Latin, it is known as "Benedic anima mea Domino". In the slightly different ...

Verse 4'' (Barchie Nafshi; mixed chorus) *“

Psalm 133 Psalm 133 is the 133rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity". In Latin, it is known as "Ecce quam bonum". The psalm is one of ...

Verse 3” (Ketal Chermon) Shatal's music was published by the

Israel Music Institute The Israel Music Institute (IMI) is the first publicly owned music publishing house in Israel. It is devoted primarily to the publication of Israeli art music, but also publishes books and booklets on Israeli music and composers, CDs of Israeli a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shatal, Mirian Dutch women composers Jewish women composers 2006 deaths Women biologists People from Amsterdam 1903 births Jewish Dutch scientists Israeli people of Dutch-Jewish descent Israeli classical composers Israeli painters Dutch biologists