Shlomo Zemach
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Shlomo Zemach ( he, שלמה צמח; 2 June 1886 – 6 November 1974) was an Israeli author, agriculturalist and early
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 ...
pioneer.


Biography

Zemach was born in 1886 in
Płońsk Płońsk (; yi, פּלאָנסק, Plonsk) is a town in central Poland with 22,500 inhabitants (2010). Situated at the Płonka river in the historic region of Mazovia, it is the seat of Płońsk County in the Masovian Voivodeship. History Ac ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, then part of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, and was a descendant of Rabbi
Avraham Gombiner Abraham Abele Gombiner () (c. 1635 – 5 October 1682), known as the Magen Avraham, born in Gąbin (Gombin), Poland, was a rabbi, Talmudist and a leading religious authority in the Jewish community of Kalisz, Poland during the seventeenth century ...
(known as the "Magen Avraham") and his descendant, Rabbi Zvi Hirsch HaLevi of Plonsk (known as the "Plant (Zemach) of Avraham", from where Zemach's surname originates). His family was the wealthiest in Płońsk. He was a childhood friend of
David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...
. Zemach received a traditional Jewish education at
cheder A ''cheder'' ( he, חדר, lit. "room"; Yiddish pronunciation ''kheyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th ...
and
beit midrash A ''beth midrash'' ( he, בית מדרש, or ''beis medrash'', ''beit midrash'', pl. ''batei midrash'' "House of Learning") is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall." It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth kness ...
. In 1900, at the age of 14, Ben-Gurion and Zemach founded a Zionist youth association in Płońsk, under the name Ezra Association, whose members spoke only Hebrew. In 1904, Zemach was the first Zionist to
emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
from Płońsk to
Ottoman Palestine Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south ...
using 300 rubles his father had entrusted him to take to the bank. He worked as an agricultural worker for five years. In 1905, he was among the founders of the
Hapoel Hatzair Hapoel Hatzair ( he, הפועל הצעיר, "The Young Worker") was a Zionist group active in Palestine from 1905 until 1930. It was founded by A.D. Gordon, Yosef Aharonovich, Yosef Sprinzak and followed a non-Marxist, Zionist, socialist agenda ...
Zionist organisation. In 1906 he returned to Płońsk to make peace with his family and in early September travelled back to Palestine with Ben Gurion, Rachel Nelkin and her mother Shoshana. Whilst in Rehovot in 1908 he met a secretly married Hemda Polansky. She was from a wealthy family. They moved to Jerusalem to an apartment in Jerusalem owned by her brothers. They held literary salons and Ben Gurion was a regular visitor. In spring of 1911 they returned to Płońsk and divorced. Zemach then studied agriculture, literature and philosophy in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. In 1914, he qualified as an agricultural engineer, and went to visit his parents' home in Płońsk, where he was caught up in the outbreak of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. He was engaged in literary work in
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
and later on in Odessa. In 1921, he returned to then British-administered Palestine. He was employed as a teacher at the Mikveh Israel agricultural school and, in 1933, he was the principal founder of the Kadoorie Agricultural High School and served as its first headmaster. He wrote a number of books and articles on agriculture. He was also a literary critic and edited the literary journal ''Maazanim''.


Awards

* In 1944, Zemach 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 Bialik ...
for Literature, jointly with Yehuda Karni. * In 1955, he was awarded the
Brenner Prize The Brenner Prize is an Israeli literary prize awarded annually by the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel and the Haft Family Foundation. It was founded in the name of the author Yosef Haim Brenner Yosef Haim Brenner ( he, יוֹסֵף חַ ...
for Literature, jointly with Yeshuron Keshet. * In 1965, he was awarded the Israel Prize, in literature.


Published works

* ''Elijah Margaret'' (Roman), Warsaw: Jewish Press, 1921. * ''First year'', published by Am Oved, 1952. * ''Stories from the Life of the Land'', published by Rubin Mass Press, 1939. * ''Essay and Criticism'', published by Dvir, 1954.


Further reading

*''Thanks to a Friend from Plonsk'', by Arieh (Buda) Bodenheimer, 2010. Tells the story of Zemach, including his relationship with Ben-Gurion.


See also

* List of Israel Prize recipients * List of Bialik Prize recipients


References


External links

* Describes the relationship of friendship/rivalry between Ben-Gurion and Zemach from their childhood together in Plonsk continuing throughout their lives; analyzes Zemach's story "Razallah and Atarah" (1930) about two mules, and believed this to be an allegory of the writer's relationship with Ben-Gurion. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zemach, Shlomo 1886 births 1974 deaths Israeli Jews Polish emigrants to Israel Israeli agronomists Hebrew-language writers Israel Prize in literature recipients Brenner Prize recipients Burials at Har HaMenuchot