Leah Goldberg
Leah Goldberg | |
---|---|
Born | Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), East Prussia, German Empire | May 29, 1911
Died | January 15, 1970 Jerusalem | (aged 58)
Occupation | poet, translator, playwright, researcher of literature |
Nationality | Israeli (after 1948) |
Literary movement | Yakhdav (led by Avraham Shlonsky) |
Leah Goldberg or Lea Goldberg[1] (Hebrew: לאה גולדברג; May 29, 1911, Königsberg – January 15, 1970, Jerusalem) was a prolific Hebrew-language poet, author, playwright, literary translator, illustrater and painter,[2][3] and comparative literary researcher.
Her writings are considered classics of Israeli literature.
Biography
Leah Goldberg was born to a
When the
According to Goldberg's autobiographical account, in 1938, when the family traveled back to Kaunas in 1919, a Lithuanian border patrol stopped them and accused her father of being a "
Goldberg's parents spoke several languages, though Hebrew was not one of them. However, Goldberg learned Hebrew at a very young age, as she received her elementary education in a Jewish Hebrew-language school. She began keeping a diary in Hebrew when she was 10 years old. Her first diaries still show limited fluency in Hebrew and the influence of Russian language, but she was determined to write in Hebrew and mastered the language within a short period of time.[6] Even though she was fluent and literate in various European languages, Goldberg wrote her published works, as well as her personal notes, only in Hebrew. In 1926, when she was 15 years old, she wrote in her personal diary, "The unfavourable condition of the Hebrew writer is no secret to me [...] Writing in a different language than Hebrew is the same to me as not writing at all. And yet I want to be a writer [...] This is my only objective."[6]
Goldberg received a PhD from the Universities of
She never married and lived with her mother, first in Tel Aviv and later in Jerusalem. Goldberg was a heavy smoker, and in her late years she became aware of the damage in this habit, as reflected in her poem "About the Damage of Smoking". In the spring of 1969, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. After removing one of her breasts, her physicians were optimistic. Goldberg went on a short visit to Switzerland, but returned in a bad physical condition, as the cancer spread through her body. She died on 15 January 1970.[8] Goldberg received the Israel Prize posthumously, her mother took the prize in her name.
Literary career
Goldberg worked as a high-school teacher and earned a living writing rhymed advertisements until she was hired as an editor by the Hebrew newspapers Davar and Al HaMishmar.[9] She also worked as a children’s book editor at Sifriyat Po'alim publishing house, while also writing theatre reviews and literary columns. In 1954 she became a literature lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, advancing to senior lecturer in 1957 and full professor in 1963, when she was appointed head of the university's Department of Comparative Literature.[10]
Goldberg wrote Hebrew poetry, drama, and children's literature. Goldberg's books for children, among them "A Flat for Rent" ("דירה להשכיר", dira lehaskir) and "Miracles and Wonders" (ניסים ונפלאות, nisim veniflaot), have become classics of Hebrew-language children's literature.
With exemplary knowledge of seven languages, Goldberg also translated numerous foreign literary works exclusively into Modern Hebrew from Russian, Lithuanian, German, Italian, French, and English. Of particular note is her magnum opus of translation, Tolstoy's epic novel War and Peace, as well as translations of Rilke, Thomas Mann, Chekhov, Akhmatova, Shakespeare, and Petrarch, plus many other works including reference books and works for children.
Novel
In 1946, Goldberg published her first novel, והוא האור (Hebrew: Vehu ha'or, literally: "And he is the light"; also translated "it is the light", "this is the light"). The novel had a strong autobiographical basis, and has been received as shedding much light on the rest of her work.[11] The book opens with symbolic patricide: the protagonist, Nora, is pressed by someone she meets to describe her parents. She does not want to disclose the fact her father is at a psychiatric hospital and tries to evade the questions, but the other person wouldn't let go, until Nora explodes: "I have no father! My father is dead! Do you hear? Dead!". Despite this attempt, the specter of mental illness continues to haunt her throughout the novel.
Literary style and influences
Goldberg was widely read in Russian, German, and French poetry.
Goldberg's poetics perceive the general in the specific: a drop of dew represents vast distances and the concrete reflects the abstract. Her poetry has been described as "a system of echoes and mild reverberations, voices and whispers," that recognizes the limitations of the poem and language. Her work is minor and modest, taking a majestic landscape like the Jerusalem hills and focusing on a stone, a thorn, one yellow butterfly, a single bird in the sky.[10]
Unlike many of her contemporary peers, most notably Nathan Alterman, Goldberg avoided outright political poetry, and did not contribute occasional poetry to Hebrew periodicals with overt current-affairs discourse.
Acclaim and remembrance
Goldberg received in 1949 the Ruppin Prize (for the volume "Al Haprikhá")[13] and, in 1970, the Israel Prize for literature.[14]
The American Hebraist, Gabriel Preil, wrote a poem about Goldberg: "Leah's Absence".
In 2011, Goldberg was announced as one of four great Israeli poets who would appear on Israel's currency (together with
The design of the
Many of Goldberg's songs, including those written before the establishment of the State of Israel,[16] have been composed and recorded over the years.
See also
References
- ^ When filling out a questionnaire for the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel, Goldberg wrote her name also in Latin letters and stated: "Lea, and not Leah". https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/he/d/da/Goldberg3.JPG
- ^ יהודה, הדר בן (2018-05-29). "מעשה בציירת: לאה גולדברג". הספרנים (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2023-08-09.
- ^ "Leah Goldberg | 8 Artworks at Auction | MutualArt". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
- ^ Life's no fairy tale: Why You Should Be Reading Your Kids Stories of Tragedy
- ^ Leah Goldberg, YIVO
- ^ ISBN 965-02-0299-4(in Hebrew), p. 9, "About the Diaries" (preface by Arie Aharoni)
- Jerusalem Post
- ^ "זֶה מִכְּבָר אֵין אִישׁ מְחַכֶּה לִי שָׁם". הספרנים (in Hebrew). 2018-01-15. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
- ^ Poetry International: Lea Goldberg and her poetry
- ^ a b "Lea Goldberg and her poetry". Archived from the original on 2014-10-06. Retrieved 2013-12-04.
- JSTOR 20689486.
- JSTOR 20689486.
- ^ report about the ceremony in Hebrew[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Israel Prize Official Site – Recipients in 1970 (in Hebrew)".
- ^ Nadav Shemer, Jerusalem Post, March 10, 2011.
- ^ "Leah Goldberg, Zemereshet". Retrieved 2024-03-05. (in Hebrew)
Further reading
- And This Is the Light, translated by Barbara Harshav (Toby Press, 2011).
- With This Night, translated by Annie Kantar (University of Texas Press, 2011).
- The Selected Poetry and Drama of Leah Goldberg, translated by Rachel Tzvia Back (Toby Press, 2005).
- "From Songs of Two Autumns" (poem), translated by Annie Kantar.
- Leah Goldberg in the Lexicon of the Hebrew new literature on net לקסיקון הספרות העברית החדשה
- ISBN 0-8143-2485-1
- "The Shortest Journey (poem) in New Translations (English)
- "On the Blossoming,' translated by Miriam Billig Sivan (Garland Pub., 1992).
- "Re-reading It is the Light, Lea Goldberg's Only Novel," by Nili Gold (Prooftexts, Vol. 17, 1997).
External links
- A documentary film about Lea Goldberg
- Ivrim Interviews with Goldberg friends and researchers
- Leah Goldberg's 102nd Birthday Google Doodle (may only be visible in Israel)