Literatureזויה סמנדוייבה

Zoya Semenduyeva

Zoya Semenduyeva was a Soviet and Israeli poet and playwright who wrote in Juhuri, the language of the Mountain Jews.

1929 to 2020Poetry in JuhuriJuhuri translation of the BibleThe play Daughter of Two Fathers

Born: 20 October 1929, Derbent
Died: 9 April 2020, Netanya
Occupation: writer, poet, playwright

Zoya Semenduyeva was born in 1929 in Derbent

Zoya Semenduyeva was born Zoya Haimova in 1929 in Derbent, Dagestan, to Naamo and Yuno Haimov. Her family later moved to Makhachkala, where she studied accounting.

In 1950 she began working at a publishing house in Makhachkala. There she met her future husband, Akhom (Alexey) Semenduyev, who headed a department there. Her first poems appeared in 1960, and her first collection came out in 1967.

She wrote about her people, love, friendship, war and peace. Two of her collections were published in Russian, and composers set her poems to music.

In December 1992 she immigrated to Israel and settled in Kfar Yona. She published new books there, including a 1998 collection and a 2007 book with a play and fairy tales. From 2008 she and her husband edited a translation of the Hebrew Bible into Juhuri.

She had 5 children. She died on 9 April 2020 in Netanya.