Nathan Zach (13 December 1930 – 6 November 2020;

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 ...

: נתן זך) 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 ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

in 1995 for

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

. He was also the recipient of other national and international awards. Zach was a professor of

and

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

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 (see also Isra ...

in 1936 following the rise of the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. The family settled in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the 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 metropol ...

. He served in the

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

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 Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

. In 1955, he published his first collection of poetry (''Shirim Rishonim'', he, שירים ראשונים), 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 Ime is a village in Lindesnes municipality in Agder county, Norway. The village is located on the east side of the river Mandalselva, along the European route E39 highway. Ime is an eastern suburb of the town of Mandal. Ime might be considered ...

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-Jewish poet and playwright famous for her bohemian lifestyle in Berlin and her poetry. She was one of the few women affiliated with the Expressi ...

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 William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

. The literary scholar

Nili Rachel Scharf Gold Nili Rachel Scharf Gold (born 1948) is an Israeli-American professor of modern Hebrew language, Hebrew language and literature in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania. Taking an interdisciplin ...

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 ( he, נתן אלתרמן, 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 Socialist Zionist politics, ...

, 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 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, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...

. After returning to Israel, he lectured at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

and was appointed professor at the

. 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 Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin and about northeast of Novara. Cameri borders the following municipalities: Bellinzago Novarese, Caltignaga, Castan ...

theaters. In his final years, Zach struggled with a worsening

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

, 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, but the setting is s ...

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 Hayim Nahman Biali ...

for

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. * In 1993, he was awarded the Feronia Prize (Rome). * In 1995, he was awarded the

for Hebrew poetry.

Controversy

In July 2010 Zach was interviewed on Israel's Channel 10 and accused

Mizrahi Jews Mizrahi Jews ( he, יהודי המִזְרָח), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () or ''Mizrachi'' () and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained i ...

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 over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

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 (Hebrew מתי גרינברג) born 1943, is an Israeli sculptor and known also for his Artist Books. Biography Maty Grunberg was born in Skopje, Macedonia, the former Yugoslavia. In the year 1948 M.G. immigrated to Israel with hi ...

* Book of Esther (1975) - London, free translation, collaboration with artist

* 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)

References

External links