Literatureשמאי גולן

Shammai Golan

Shammai Golan was an Israeli writer and editor whose books dealt mainly with the Holocaust and its survivors.

1933 to 2017Fiction about the HolocaustFounding the Jerusalem Writers' HouseChairing the Hebrew Writers Association

Born: 5 April 1933, Pułtusk
Died: 10 December 2017
Occupation: writer
Education: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Shammai Golan was born in 1933 in Pułtusk

Shammai Golan was born in 1933 in Pułtusk, Poland. During World War II he lived under Nazi and then Soviet occupation. He came to the Land of Israel in 1947 with Youth Aliyah.

He was raised at Kibbutz Ramat HaKovesh and served as an officer in the IDF. He earned a bachelor's degree in literature and history from the Hebrew University.

In the 1960s he taught literature and Hebrew in Jerusalem schools. He helped found the Writers' House in Jerusalem and was its first director for 7 years. He organized the 1974 international writers' congress in Jerusalem and chaired the Hebrew Writers Association 4 times.

He served on educational missions in Mexico and Argentina and as a counselor at Israel's embassy in Mexico. He later became the first cultural attaché of Israel's embassy in Moscow. His first story collection appeared in 1963, and he published 4 story collections and 4 novels.

He died in December 2017. He was survived by his wife, literary scholar Dr. Orna Golan, and 4 children.