Lea Goldberg

Lea Goldberg (1911-1970) was born in Konigsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), and started writing Hebrew verse as a schoolgirl in Kovno. She received a Ph.D in semitic languages from Bonn University, and immigrated to pre-state Israel in 1935. Goldberg was a renowned poet – a member of the Shlonsky group – as well as a successful children’s author, theater critic, translator, and editor. In 1952, she began teaching literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Later, she established the university’s Department of Comparative Literature and remained its chairperson until her death. Goldberg published nine books of poetry during her lifetime, novels, plays, non-fiction, and books for children. She was awarded the Ruppin Prize (1949), the Shlonsky Prize (1956), the Kugel Prize (1960), the Neuman Prize (New York, 1969) and the Israel Prize for Literature (1970).

Lea Goldberg’s work has been published in 15 languages.