Chava Alberstein

Chava Alberstein was born in 1946 in Szczecin

Chava Alberstein was born Ewa Alberstein in Szczecin, Poland, on 8 December 1946. She came to Israel with her family in 1950 and first lived in the Sha'ar HaAliya transit camp in Haifa. She grew up in Kiryat Bialik and later Kiryat Haim, where she went to high school.

As a child she sang, played guitar and studied voice after winning a scholarship for young talent. In 1964 she first performed at the Hammam club in Jaffa, and in 1965 she released her first record with CBS.

She was drafted into the IDF in 1965 and sang in army entertainment troupes. In 1967 she released her first Hebrew album, followed by albums in Yiddish and for children. In 1969 she recorded an album of the poet Rachel's songs.

She began writing and composing in 1980 and has released more than 60 albums. Her husband, filmmaker Nadav Levitan, wrote lyrics for her, and she scored his 1986 film Stalin's Disciples. He died in 2010.

She is active for human rights and Arab-Israeli unity. In 1989 Israel State Radio banned her song Chad Gadya, which implicitly criticized Israeli policy toward Palestinians. She has received honorary doctorates and the Presidential Medal of Distinction.