Musicיעקב לבנון

Yaacov Levanon

Yaacov Levanon was a Jewish composer and music teacher in Mandate Palestine and later Israel, known for film music, operettas and children's songs.

1895 to 1965Music for This is the LandOperettas and children's songsChildren's orchestra in Jerusalem

Occupation: composer

Yaacov Levanon was born in 1895 in Korets

Yaacov Levanon was born Yaacov Bilansky in 1895 in Korets, Ukraine. His father, Samuel Bilansky, was a haskalah scholar from Novohrad-Volynskyy.

He studied music at the conservatory in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. He then served in the Red Army.

In 1919 he moved to Palestine and worked as a composer and music teacher. He wrote music for operettas and films, instrumental pieces and children's songs. His film work included This is the Land from 1935, the first Hebrew-language talking film.

He taught in Arab schools in Jerusalem. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husayni, asked him to set up a children's orchestra that played at events such as Eid ul-Fitr. Their relations stayed cordial until the 1929 Hebron massacre.

He died in Jerusalem in 1965.