Betrothed
(Shmuel Yosef Agnon)
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1888 - 1970; b. Buczacz, Galicia), born
Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes, 1966 Nobel Prize laureate in
Literature, was born to an affluent and urbane family where
traditional Jewish culture dwelt side by side with modern
European culture. While his father taught him rabbinical
legends, his mother read him German stories.
Agnon began to write in both Hebrew and Yiddish at the age
of eight and began to publish at the age of fifteen. He left
Buczacz in January 1907 for Jaffa and never again wrote in
Yiddish. By that time, he had published some seventy pieces
in Hebrew and Yiddish.
In Jaffa, Agnon gave private lessons and occasionally worked
as a clerk. In 1908 he published his first story in Eretz
Israel, Agunot (Forsaken Souls), using the pseudonym Agnon.
In 1924 he took Agnon as his official family name.
In 1913, drawn by Germany`s lively Jewish cultural life, he
left Eretz Israel. While there, he married Esther Marx and
the couple had two children. At first, Agnon gave private
lessons and worked as an editor. Later, a wealthy Jewish
businessman, Zalman Schocken, became his patron and
published his works. Agnon read German and French Literature
extensively, became a member of a circle of Hebrew writers
in Hamburg and collaborated with Martin Buber on a
collection of Chassidic stories. In 1924 fire swept his home
and destroyed all his books and manuscripts, including the
novel, In the Bond of Life, whose imminent publication had
already been announced. He returned to Jerusalem where he
lived until his death.
Several of his works were published posthumously by his
daughter, Emmuna Yaron.
Called "a man of unquestionable genius" and "one of the
great storytellers of our time," S.Y. Agnon is among the
most effusively-praised and widely-translated Hebrew
authors. His unique style and language have influenced later
generations of Hebrew authors. In addition to the 1966 Nobel
Prize for Literature, Agnon received numerous literary
awards, including the Israel Prize on two occasions.
Books Published in Hebrew
Resumos Relacionados
- The Book Of Deeds
- The Book Of Deeds
- The Bridal Canopy
- A Guest For The Night
- Only Yesterday
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