Avraham Shlonsky

Avraham Shlonsky was born in 1900 in Kremenchuk

Shlonsky was born in 1900 in Kryukovo, now part of Kremenchuk in Ukraine. His father Tuvia was a Chabad Hasid and his mother Tzippora had been active in the socialist movement. His younger sister was the composer Verdina Shlonsky.

In 1913 he was sent to study at the Herzliya Hebrew High School in Tel Aviv. When World War I began he went back and finished high school in Yekaterinoslav.

He published his first poem in 1919 in Ha-Shiloah. In 1921 he came to the Land of Israel, joined Gdud Ha'avoda and worked on roads and construction at Ein Harod. He then moved to Tel Aviv, wrote songs for satirical stages and edited literary columns in several newspapers.

He led a group of poets who rebelled against the poetry of Bialik and his generation. He founded the weekly Turim in 1933, linked to the Yachdav group, and was chief editor at Sifriat Poalim. He translated Eugene Onegin and Hamlet, and co-founded the Tzavta club in Tel Aviv with Lola Luxemburg.

He received the Israel Prize for literature in 1967. He died in Tel Aviv in 1973 and was buried at Kiryat Shaul cemetery.