Albert Almoznino

Albert Almoznino was born in 1923 in Essaouira

Albert Almoznino was born in 1923 in Mogador (Essaouira), Morocco, to Mazal and Aharon Almoznino. He came from the Knafo rabbinical family, and his father was killed in a road accident when he was a child. He was left-handed but was made to write with his right hand, so he learned to use both.

In 1949 he immigrated to Israel with his mother and sister and joined the Paratroopers Brigade. After his army service he studied at a college for art teachers and taught art in an elementary school.

In 1953 he began work as a lab technician at the Weizmann Institute of Science, where he stayed until he retired in 1988. He performed as an amateur, including in a puppet theater, until Ed Sullivan featured him on television in 1958. He later appeared at Radio City Music Hall, the Paris Olympia and in Reno, Nevada, and in 1975 performed in South Africa with Yehoram Gaon and Dudu Topaz.

Using only a small light, a screen and his hands, he made shadows of animals, plants and political figures. He also painted and made stained glass, showing work in Rishon LeZion, Tel Aviv and Ashdod. His Hebrew book on hand shadows came out in 2000, and he died in 2020.