Yehonatan Geffen
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Yehonatan Geffen ( he, יהונתן גפן; 22 February 1947 – 19 April 2023), also known as Yonatan Gefen, was a prominent Israeli author, poet, songwriter, journalist, satirist and playwright.


Early life and education

Geffen was born in
moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...
Nahalal Nahalal ( he, נַהֲלָל) is a moshav in northern Israel. Covering 8.5 square kilometers, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . Nahalal is best known for its general layout, as d ...
. In 1965, he served as a
paratrooper A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...
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 ...
under
Matan Vilnai Matan Vilnai ( he, מַתָּן וִילְנָאִי; born 20 May 1944) is an Israeli politician and a former major general in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). A former Knesset member and government minister, he was appointed ambassador to Chin ...
, and became an officer. After his discharge from the IDF in 1969 and moving to
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 ...
, he took up poetry. He later studied in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.


Career

In 1972, after his return from studies at
Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, Geffen began writing a satirical column for the weekend supplement of the Hebrew-language mainstream newspaper ''
Ma'ariv ''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and ''Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms ...
''. He joined the entertainment troupe "Lul" with
Uri Zohar Uri Zohar ( he, אורי זוהר; 4 November 1935 – 2 June 2022) was an Israeli film director, actor and comedian who left the entertainment world to become an Orthodox rabbi. Biography Uri Zohar was born in Tel Aviv. His parents were Polis ...
,
Arik Einstein Arieh Lieb "Arik" Einstein ( he, אָרִיק אַייְנְשְׁטֵייְן, ; 3 January 1939 – 26 November 2013) was an Israeli singer, actor, comedian and screenwriter. He was a pioneer of Israeli rock music and was named "the voice of Is ...
and
Shalom Hanoch Shalom Hanoch ( he, שלום חנוך) (born September 1, 1946) is an Israeli rock singer, lyricist and composer. He is considered to be the father of Israeli rock and modern Israeli music in general, both of which have been profoundly influe ...
. The latter introduced Geffen to his future wife, Nurit Makober. Much of Geffen's success came from his works for children, including the song "HaYaldah Hachi Yafah BaGan" ("The Prettiest Girl in Kindergarten") and the poetry collection ''HaKeves HaShisha-Asar'' ("The 16th Sheep"). He also wrote many popular lyrics for adults, poems, plays and books. He frequently collaborated with
David Broza David Simon Berwick Broza ( he, דויד ברוזה; born September 4, 1955) is an Israeli singer-songwriter. His music mixes modern pop with Spanish music. Biography David Broza was born in Haifa, Israel. His father was an Israeli–British bus ...
, rendering Spanish songs into Hebrew. Geffen translated into Hebrew a variety of songs and poems. Many of Geffen's own lyrics have been set to music, widely performed and recorded by leading Israeli musicians. Geffen was often criticized for his strong
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
leanings, which bordered on provocation, and even received death threats. He was one of a group of journalists (including
Uri Dan Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), an island off Malakula Island ...
, Yeshayahu Ben Porat,
Eitan Haber Eitan Haber ( he, איתן הבר; 12 March 1940 – 7 October 2020) was an Israeli journalist and publicist, known for his writing on military and security issues, and for his longtime association with the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabi ...
, Hezi Carmel, Eli Landau and
Eli Tavor Eli most commonly refers to: * Eli (name), a given name, nickname and surname * Eli (biblical figure) Eli or ELI may also refer to: Film * ''Eli'' (2015 film), a Tamil film * ''Eli'' (2019 film), an American horror film Music * ''Eli'' (Jan ...
) who in 1973 published the book ''The Failure'', the first book to document the
Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...
. It criticized the performance of the government and military and also contained first-hand descriptions of battles, casualties, injuries, and the losses and failures of military hardware. The book aroused considerable public interest.


Poem controversy

In February 2018, Geffen published a poem on his
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
feed that ended with the following lines: Reacting to this, defense minister
Avigdor Lieberman Avigdor Lieberman (, ; russian: Эве́т Льво́вич Ли́берман, Evet Lvovich Liberman, ; born 5 June 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2021, having previously served twice as Deputy ...
demanded that Israel's popular Army Radio ban Geffen's work, and culture minister
Miri Regev Miriam "Miri" Regev ( he, מִרְיָם "מִירִי" רֶגֶב; born Miriam Siboni on 26 May 1965) is an Israeli politician and a former brigadier-general in the Israel Defense Forces, in which she served as IDF Spokeswoman. She currently s ...
said Geffen was "crossing a red line by someone seeking to rewrite history". Geffen published an apology but didn't remove the poem from his Instagram profile.


Personal life

Geffen's mother Aviva was the sister of
Moshe Dayan Moshe Dayan ( he, משה דיין; 20 May 1915 – 16 October 1981) was an Israeli military leader and politician. As commander of the Jerusalem front in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (1953–1958) du ...
. He had three younger sisters. In 1967, while Geffen was serving in the IDF, his mother overdosed on medication and died. Geffen considered it to have been suicide. In 1972, his sister Nurit died by suicide in 1972 while Geffen was studying in London, and subsequently he returned to Tel Aviv. Geffen was married for the first time in 1969 to actress and television personality Nurit Makover. The marriage ended in divorce. Their daughter,
Shira Geffen Shira Geffen ( he, שירה גפן; born April 23, 1971) is an Israeli actress, screenwriter, film director and children's book writer. Biography Shira Geffen was born in 1971. Her father, Yehonatan Geffen, was an author.Jordan HoffmanShira Geffen ...
(b. 1971), is a screenwriter and filmmaker married to author
Etgar Keret Etgar Keret ( he, אתגר קרת, born August 20, 1967) is an Israeli writer known for his short stories, graphic novels, and scriptwriting for film and television. Personal life Keret was born in Ramat Gan, Israel in 1967. He is a third child ...
; their son,
Aviv Geffen Aviv Geffen ( he, אביב גפן, born 10 May 1973) is an Israeli rock musician, singer, songwriter and the son of writer and poet Yehonatan Geffen and Nurit Makover, brother of actress Shira Geffen, and an alumnus of Rimon School of Jazz and Co ...
(b. 1973), is a popular musician and singer-songwriter. Geffen married a second time, to television actress Ava Haddad. Their daughter, Natasha Ruth Geffen (b. 1995), is an actress. This marriage also ended in divorce. He died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
on 19 April 2023 at the age of 76.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geffen, Yehonatan 1947 births 2023 deaths Dayan family Israeli male dramatists and playwrights Israeli Jews Israeli male poets Israeli songwriters Israeli children's writers Maariv (newspaper) people Bernstein Prize recipients Recipients of Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works People from Nahalal Paratroopers