Haim Gouri

Haim Gouri (1923-2018) was born in Tel Aviv. After World War II, he joined the elite Palmah unit and fought in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. He later studied literature and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and French literature at the Sorbonne. He worked for many years as a journalist. Best known as a poet, Gouri has published some 30 books, among which collections of poetry as well as novels and books of essays. His poetry covers a broad range of subjects, some intensely personal, others reflecting his experiences during World War II and the War of Independence. Gouri is also a filmmaker of documentary films on the Holocaust, Jewish resistance and survivor’s experiences in Israel, and in 1974, his film The 81st blow was nominated for the  Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Gouri has received many awards, including the Ussishkin Prize (1961), the Sokolov Prize (1962), the Bialik Prize (1974), the Yitzhak Sadeh Prize (1980),

the Aigle d’Argent du Festival du Film Historique for his film The Last Sea (France, 1983), the Israel Prize for Poetry (1988), the Ka-Tzetnik Prize (1990), the Neuman Prize (1994), the Uri Zvi Grinberg Prize (1998), the Prime Minister’s Prize (2004) and the Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres decoration (France, 2011). His poetry has been published in 25 languages.

Photo by: Dan Porges