Shifra Horn

Shifra Horn was born in 1951 in Tel Aviv

Shifra Horn was born in Tel Aviv in 1951. Her mother came from Sephardic and Bukharan families long settled in the Land of Israel, and her father arrived as a refugee from Russia. She grew up in the Old Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem.

She finished the Hebrew University Secondary School and served in the IDF. She then earned a BA with honors in Bible Studies and Archeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, followed by an MA in Bible Studies. She also studied mass communications and earned a teaching degree.

She worked as education coordinator of the World Union of Jewish Students and campaigned for the Jews of Ethiopia, the Soviet Union and Syria. She later became spokesperson of the Absorption Ministry. In Japan she ran the Tokyo Jewish Community Center, taught Bible in Ginza and reported for Ma'ariv and Army Radio for 5 years.

After returning to Israel she published the nonfiction book Shalom Japan in 1992 and her first novel, Four Mothers, in 1994. Her books have been translated into many languages. She received the Prime Minister's Prize in 2005 and the Brenner Prize in 2006.

In 2004 she was diagnosed with acute leukemia. She lives in Jerusalem and in Auckland, New Zealand.