Levin Kipnis

Levin Kipnis ( he, לֶוִין קִיפְּנִיס; 1 August 1894 – 20 June 1990), or was born 1890, was an Israeli children's author and poet who wrote mainly in Hebrew and Yiddish. He won the Israel prize in 1978.

Biography

Kipnis was born in Ushomyr in Volhynian Governorate which was part of the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire (now in Korosten Raion of Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine), into a family of 12. His father, Pessach, who was a shaliach tzibbur, sent him to study in a Cheder, which he didn't like because of the strict discipline. He showed a passion for the arts from a young age, painting and woodcarving. His father, who saw his potential, encouraged him to become a sofer stam. He wrote mezuzot to provide additional income for the family.

He decided to become a writer at the age of 13, after seeing the Hebrew children's magazine "Haprachim" ("the flowers"). In his attic, he wrote, illustrated and produced his own magazine, later submitting one of his stories, "the sick child" to the children's magazine. The story was published in 1910. Kipnis completed his education in Jitomir and Warsaw, then went back to his hometown, where he founded an "improved Cheder," established a Hebrew library and wrote and directed plays. In 1913, he emigrated to Ottoman Palestine and continued his arts education at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. The lack of content for children of kindergarten age convinced him to write songs suited for preschoolers.

With the outbreak of World War I, Kipnis established the "Little Library for Children" publisher in Jaffa, while concurrently doing agricultural forced labor for the Ottoman military. After the war he returned to Jerusalem at the invitation of Bezalel to write and edit content for preschoolers and published story and song collections for children as well as the first magazine for preschool teachers "Ganenu" ("our garden" or "our kindergarten").

In 1921, he managed an orphanage in Safed. In 1922, he traveled to Berlin, Germany for advanced studies in art and craftsmanship. There he published three books in German. He returned in 1923 and began teaching at the Levinsky Teacher's College in Tel Aviv.

In 1928, Kipnis wrote plays and participated actively in the foundation of a children's theater, later known as "Teatron Hagananot" ("the preschool-teacher theater"), where some well known Hebrew performers such as Bracha Zefira and Sara Levi-Tanai participated.

In 1956, he retired from his job as an educator and dedicated his time to writing.

Kipnis's writing is characterized by a light and happy style, devoid of pathos, yet rich and aesthetic. His collections in Hebrew encompass about 800 stories and 600 poems. Kipnis also wrote songs in Hebrew, including Shanah Tova. He also wrote children's books in Yiddish, publishing a collection in 1961. His work was translated into English, French, German, Russian, Arabic and Yiddish. He was active as a writer for 80 years, from 1910 to 1990.

Kipnis died in 1990 in Tel Aviv.

The archive of his work is at the Levin Kipnis Center for Children's Literature, Levinsky Teachers' College. The center awards a bi-annual prize named after Kipnis for a research project about children's literature. In 2020 a poem, written by Kipnis as a boy in 1905, was found in the Boris Schatz Archives at the Information Center for Israeli Art.Ofer Aderet, "A 113-year-old lost song by the children's author Levin Kipnis was discovered at the Israel Museum", Haaretz, 27.11.2020
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Awards and honors

*In 1962, Kipnis was awarded the Yatsiv Prize for Children's Literature.
*In 1976, he received the Lamdan Prize for Children's Literature.
*In 1978, he was awarded the Israel Prize, for children's literature.

A street is named after him in Be'er Sheva

Bibliography

Books Published in Hebrew

Children

*By the Ancestor's Grave, Berlin-Hasefer, 1923 e-Kever Avot*Aleph-Beit, Berlin-Hasefer, 1923 leph-Beit*A String, Omanut, 1923 ahrozet*The Story of the Chick Who Wanted a New Mother, Omanut, 1923 a'aseh Be-Efroah She Halach Levakesh Em Aheret*Shele-Pele, Dvir, 1925 hele-Pele*Shulamita, Dvir, 1925 hulamita*Velvet and Her Puppies, Dvir, 1925 etifah Ve-Gureha*Listen and I Will Tell You, Dvir, 1925 him'u Va-Asapera*Hasty Goat, Dvir, 1926 za Peziza*The Compassionate Donkey, Dvir, 1926 e-Hamor He-Rahum*The Exiled Palm Branch, Dvir, 1926 a-Lulav Ha-Goleh*The Queen of Geese, Dvir, 1926 alkat Ha-Avazim*The Scarecrow, Dvir, 1927 a-Dahlil*Country Children, Dvir, 1927 aldei Sadeh*The Story of the Wandering Apple, Dvir, 1927 a'ase Be-Tpuah She-Halach Lasuah*Four and a Bulb, Dvir, 1928 rba Benei Peka'at*The Story of a Paper Rose, Dvir, 1928 a'ase Be-Vered Shel Nyar*Zamzuma, Dvir, 1928 amzuma*The Tiger Who Almost Changed Its Spots, Dvir, 1928 a-Namer She-Halach Lahafoch Havarburotav*Counting, Dvir, 1929 efirah*Purim Spiel, Stybel, 1929 ishak Purim*The Sea's Gift, Stybel, 1930 atnat Ha-Yam*The Story of the Harbor, Stybel, 1930 a'ase Be-Namal*The Oil Jar, Stybel, 1930 ad Ha-Shemen*Butterflies, Dvir, 1930 arparim*Who Is That? Dvir, 1930 i Zeh?*What Is That? Dvir, 1930 a Zeh?*Chanukah for Toddlers, L. Kipnis, 1932 anukah Le-Tinokot*First Fruits, Kupat Hasefer, 1932 ikurim*The Blue Collection, I. Shimoni, 1939 a-sifriah Ha-Kehulah L'Yeladim*The Western Wall, Sion, 194- a-Kotel Ha-Ma'aravi*Lit up Candles, Dfus Arieli, 1940 erot Dolkim*Dew, I. Shimoni, 1941 al*David and Goliath, Fisher, 1941 avid Ve-Goliat*What Do Animals Say? Fisher, 1942 a-Hayot Ma Omrot*Folks, Massada, 1942 evraya*310 Riddles, Ever, 1943 hai Hidot*Good Morning, Massada, 1943 oker Tov*The Festival of Light, Rudin, 1946 ag Ha-Or*Clandestine Children, Dvir, 1946 eladim Be-Mahteret*My Kindergarten, Twersky, 1949 an-Gani*My Holidays, Twersky, 1949 agai*Thus Spoke Grandpa, Stybel, 1950 o Amar Saba*Lion the Hero, 1950 a-Arieh Ha-Gibor*First Kindergarten, Twersky, 1954 an-Ganon*The Extraordinary Path, Dvir, 1954 i'Ntiv Ha-Pele*Light, Dekel, 1957 r*150 Riddles, Karni, 1958 en Hidot*Quiz for Children, Karni, 1958 idon Le-Yeladim*Playground, S. Zak, 1958 inah Ginah*Phanty the Elephant, S. Zak, 1959 il Palil*March!, S. Zak, 1959 adima Tz'ad!*About Two and Four, Dvir, 1960 l Shtayim Ve-Al Arba*The State of Israel, Karni, 1960 edinat Israel*Mr. Coxcomb Went to the Army, Sh. Zimenson, 1964 ar Karbol Hitgayess*Eliezer and the Carrot, Sh. Zimenson, 1964 liezer Ve-Ha-Gezer*Chen Gave, Chen Took Away, Sh. Zimenson, 1964 en Natan, Hen Lakah*Under The Palm Tree, Kiriat Sefer, 1965 e-Tzel Ha-Tomer*A Nice Walk, Sh. Zimenson, 196- iyul Na'im*My Friends, Sh. Zimenson, 196- averim Sheli*Biki In Disguise, Sh. Zimenson, 1966 iki Mithapes*I Have a Light, Sh. Zimenson, 1966 r Li*Six in a Little Bag, Sh. Zimenson, 1966 hesh Be-Sakik Ehad*Doron's Celebration in Tel Aviv, Sh. Zimenson, 1966 oron Hogeg Be-Tel Aviv*Beit, Karni, 1967 ayit*The Wagtail Builds a Nest, Kimchi, 1968 a-Nahlieli Boneh Ken*Foxy's Visit to the Hen House, Kimchi, 1968 ha'alul She-Halach La-Lul*Quiz on the Tora for Children, Karni, 1968 idon Ha-Torah Le-Yeladim*First Grades, Sh. Zimenson, 1969 aldei Aleph Beit*This Is My Book, Twersky, 1969 e Sifri*The Daffodil's Crown, Twersky, 1969 eter Ha-Narkis*Roni-Ron and the Spinning-Top, Kimchi, 1970 oni-Ron Ve-Ha-Sevivon*A Good Citizen, Kimchi, 1970 zrah Tov*Etty Wants Cookies, Kimchi, 1970 tty Rotzah Ugiot*Open the Door, Kimchi, 1970 ithu Et Ha-Delet*Milli Loves Flowers, Sh. Zimenson, 1971 illi Ohevet Perahim*Milli In the Country, Sh. Zimenson, 1971 illi Ba-Meshek*Milli Goes to the Kindergarten, Sh. Zimenson, 1971 illi Holechet La-Gan*Milli at the Sea Coast, Sh. Zimenson, 1971 illi Al Sefat Ha-Yam*Milli and Her Puppy, Sh. Zimenson, 1971 illi Ve-Ha-Klavlav Shelah*Wear It Well!, Sh. Zimenson, 1971 ithadesh*Shavuot, Sh. Zimenson, 1973 havuot*The Tabernacles Festival, Sh. Zimenson, 1973 ukot*Independence, Sh. Zimenson, 1973 tzmaut*The Independence Story, Karni, 1973 gadah Shel Atzmaut*From Genesis, R. Mass, 1973 i-Be-Reshit*Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kippur, Sh. Zimenson, 1973 osh Hashanah-Yom Kippur*Fables, Sh. Zimenson, 1974 eshalim*Shabbat, Sh. Zimenson, 1974 habbat*The 33rd Day of the Omer, Sh. Zimenson, 1974 ag Ba-Omer*Who Is Brave?, Zelkovitz, 1975 i Ben Hayil?*Tulips, Zelkovitz, 19.. ziv'onim*Walking in Fields and Forests, Zelkovitz, 1975 olchim Ba-Sadeh U-Ba-Ya'ar*Esty Is Looking for a Father, Bronfman, 1976 sty Mehapeset Aba*Stories From the Bible, Sh. Zimenson, 1976 in Ha-Torah*Beetles, Bronfman, 1976 ipushiot*Times, Sh. Zimenson, 1976 emanim*Five Girls, Keter, 1977 amesh Banot*Aleph, Karni, 1977 leph*My State of Israel, Yaad, 1978 edinati Israel*Meromtzion, Sh. Zimenson, 1978 eromtzion*Scarecrow the King, Yaad, 1979 ahlimelech*Once Upon a Time There Was a King, Lichtenfeld, 1980 ayo Haya Melech*House of Peace, Or-Am, 1980 eit Shalom*Honor Your Mother, Lichtenfeld, 1980 avod Le-Ima*The Story of Seven Girls, Alon, 1980 a'ase Be-Yeladot Sheva*The Golden Nut, Tamuz, 1983 goz Shel Zahav*Tzachi's Long Night, Lichtenfeld, 1985 eilo He-Aroch Shel Tzahi*Osnat's Grandma, Dekel, 1986 abta Shel Osnat*Nightwatch, Dekel, 1987 homer Ma Milel*Story Hour, Sh. Zimenson, 1987 ha'at Sipur*Thelma, Bar, 1988 alma*Jackal, Dekel, 1989 an*Gluttons, Sh. Zimenson, 1989 akekanim*All the Husham Stories, Tamuz-Oumani, 1989 ol Sipurei Husham*Elijah's Cup, Sh. Zimenson, 1989 oso Shel Eliahu*Tali's Flight, Sh. Zimenson, 1989 ich Tas Tali*Tali Gets Asleep, Sh. Zimenson, 1989 ich Nirdam Tali*Branches for the Tabernacle, Sh. Zimenson, 1989 chach La-Sukah*Wheels, Sh. Zimenson, 1989 algalim*Nobody Is Like Us Bears!, Tamuz-Modan, 1989 i Camonu Ha-Dubim*Eliphele Learns How to Read, Sh. Zimenson, 1989 lifele Lomed Likro*It Happened to a Hamentash, Sh. Zimenson, 1989 a'ase Be-Ozen Aman*My Faithful Dog, Tamuz, 1990 a-Kelev Ha-Ne'eman Sheli*Levanah and Her Puppies, Tamuz-Modan, 1990 a-Kalbah Levana Ve-Gureha*Armona the Mare and her Colt, Tamuz-Modan, 1990 a-Susah Armona Ve-Siahah*There Are Foxes There, Tamuz-Modan, 1990 ham Shualim Yesh*Horses, Tamuz-Modan, 1990 usiiada*Tul the Cat, Sh. Zimenson, 1991 ul He-Hatul*It Happened to Ram, Korim, 1997 a'ase Be-Ram

Books in Translation

*The Daffodil's Crown, Arabic: Nazareth, Pair Ofest, 1966
*My Holidays, English: Tel Aviv, Twersky, 1961

See also

* List of Israel Prize recipients

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kipnis, Levin
1890s births
1990 deaths
Jews from the Russian Empire
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire
Ashkenazi Jews from Ottoman Palestine
Ashkenazi Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Israeli Ashkenazi Jews
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design alumni
Israeli children's writers
Israel Prize in children's literature recipients

Year of birth uncertain