Yehoshua Kenaz

Yehoshua Kenaz was born in 1937 in Petah Tikva

Yehoshua Kenaz was born Yehoshua Glass in Petah Tikva in 1937. During the Second World War his father worked for the British Army, and the family lived for a time in Haifa. He learned the violin and later changed his surname to Kenaz, a Biblical name.

He attended Ahad Ha'am high school in Petah Tikva. He studied philosophy and Romance languages at the Hebrew University and French literature at the Sorbonne. He lived in Paris for several years.

In the army he was first sent to a basic training camp for physically unfit soldiers. He then served in the Intelligence Corps.

His first stories appeared in the journal Keshet under the pen name Avi Otniel. He edited Keshet and later the literary supplement of Haaretz, and translated many French works into Hebrew. His novel Infiltration sold widely in 1986, and several of his books were made into films.

Kenaz was a member of Meretz and supported a two-state solution. He never married and had Alzheimer's disease in his later years. He died in Petah Tikva on 12 October 2020 after catching the coronavirus.