Fania Bergstein

Fania Bergstein was born in 1908 in Szczuczyn

Fania Bergstein was born in 1908 in Szczuczyn, in the Russian Empire. Her father was a Hebrew teacher who taught her the language from a young age. During World War I the family moved to Sumy, and after Hebrew teaching was banned in Russia it returned to Poland.

As a young woman she joined the Zionist youth movement Hehalutz HaTzair and became active in it. While in training with the movement, she learned she had a heart disease. Her first poem, "My Dream," appeared in the Warsaw newspaper haYom under the pen name Bat-haOr.

In 1930 she moved to the Land of Israel with her partner, the writer Aharon Israeli, and settled in Kibbutz Gvat. She packed grapes, worked as a seamstress, led youth groups, edited the kibbutz journal and ran a literary circle. Their only son, Gershon, was born in 1934.

She wrote mainly for children, about kibbutz life, nature and animals, and also published poetry for adults. Her book "Come to Me, Nice Butterfly" came out in 1945. Many of her poems were set to music.

She was bedridden for the last 5 years of her life and died of heart failure at HaEmek Medical Center in Afula in 1950. She was buried at Gvat, and several of her books were published after her death. A prize for children's writers bears her name.