Devorah Bertonov

Devorah Bertonov was born in 1915 in Tbilisi

Devorah Bertonov was born in Tbilisi in 1915 to Miriam and the actor Yehoshua Bertonov, one of the founders of Habima Theatre. She grew up in Moscow, where she studied ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre school and performed there. Her brother was the actor Shlomo Bertonov.

In 1928 she came to the Land of Israel with her parents and performed solo dances she created with her father on Habima tours. In 1929 she stayed in Berlin to study ballet with Vera Skoronel. She later studied modern and classical dance in Berlin and England.

She toured the United States and danced in The Dybbuk in New York. For many years she performed on stages around the world and created dance works. In 1937 she married Emanuel Bin Gorion, and their son Ido Ben-Gurion became a writer and theater director.

In 1966 the couple moved to Holon, where she opened a dance studio in her home. In 1970 she retired from the stage and turned to teaching, lecturing, writing books and researching dance, including dance in Africa. In the mid 1980s she returned to the stage with a solo show.

Her autobiography was published in 2005, and her life is the subject of a documentary. She died in Tel Aviv in 2010 and was buried in Holon, where a street is named after her.