Dvora Baron

Dvora Baron (1887-1956) was born in Belorussia to a rabbinic family, and immigrated to pre-state Israel in 1910. During World War I, she lived in Egypt. Baron began writing at an early age: her first stories were published in 1902. Later, she edited the literary section of Hapoel Hatzair, a weekly published by her husband, and continued to work as an editor until his death in 1937. Fluent in several languages, Baron also translated the works of Flaubert, Chekhov and Jack London, as well as many others, into Hebrew.

As one of the first women writers of Hebrew fiction, Dvora Baron occupies a special place in Hebrew literature. She grew up in a Lithuanian shtetl, and the suffering people who came to her father, a rabbi, for advice and support are an integral part in her work. Baron was the first recipient of the Bialik Prize (1933) and was also awarded the Brenner Prize. The First Day and Other Stories is included among “The Greatest Works of Modern Jewish Literature” (2001).