Art and designפסח עיר-שי

István Irsai

Pesach Ir-Shay, born István Irsai, was a Hungarian-born Israeli graphic designer and architect who designed the Hebrew typeface Haim.

1896 to 1968The Hebrew typeface HaimZionist and advertising postersCo-founding the HaKumkum theater

Born: 6 October 1896, Budapest
Died: 31 July 1968, Tel Aviv
Occupation: graphic designer, designer, architect, graphic artist
Education: Budapest University of Technology and Economics

István Irsai was born in 1896 in Budapest

István Irsai was born in Budapest in 1896 to Hermina, née Neumann, and Adolf Irsai. He learned to play the violin as a child. He served as a junior officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army in World War I.

He studied architecture at the Budapest University of Technology and then worked as a graphic designer. Active in Zionist groups, he studied Hebrew and created a modern Hebrew typeface called Haim, named for Hayim Nahman Bialik. It was the first Hebrew font to show the letters in basic lines only, without ornament.

He lived in the Land of Israel from 1925 to 1929, designing posters, newspaper headlines, stage sets and Bauhaus-style houses. With Avigdor Hameiri and Eliezer Donat he helped found the satirical theater HaKumkum and drew all its posters. He returned to Hungary in 1929 and worked there as a graphic designer.

In 1944 he was held in the Bergen-Belsen camp as a passenger of the Kastner train, and drew scenes of the camp. In 1945 he settled in Tel Aviv, worked as a graphic designer and wrote on typography. He designed posters for firms such as Modiano and Tungsram and Zionist posters, and died in 1968.