Nathan Alterman

Nathan Alterman was born in 1910 in Warsaw

Alterman was born in Warsaw in 1910 to Bella and Yitzhak Alterman, who helped found Hebrew kindergarten education. The family left Warsaw during World War I and lived in Moscow, Kiev and Kishinev. In Kishinev he studied at the Magen David Hebrew Gymnasium and published his first poem in its school magazine in 1921.

The family settled in Tel Aviv in 1925, and he attended the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium. In 1929 he went to France, studying in Paris and then at an agricultural college near Nancy. He qualified as an agricultural engineer in 1932.

Back in Tel Aviv, he worked briefly at Mikveh Israel and then turned to writing. He joined Avraham Shlonsky's circle, wrote songs for the theater and published rhymed columns in Davar and Haaretz. His first collection, Stars Outside, appeared in 1938.

From 1943 to 1967 he wrote The Seventh Column in Davar, which opposed British policy and supported Jewish immigration. His poem The Silver Platter appeared in 1947 and became part of Memorial Day ceremonies. He also translated Shakespeare, Racine and Molière.

He married the actress Rachel Marcus, and their daughter was the poet Tirtza Atar. After the Six Day War he was among the founders of the Movement for Greater Israel. He received the Israel Prize in 1968 and died in 1970.