Shlomo Tanny

Shlomo Tanny (1919-2000) was born in Bielsko, Poland, to a traditional and Zionist family. He arrived with his family in pre-state Israel in 1929. After finishing his secondary education he traveled to France and the U.S. to train as a journalist. In 1942 he was part of a group of young writers who proclaimed the coming of a new literary generation in the country, and was one of the editors of their publication. In 1944 he joined the daily newspaper Haaretz. During the War of Independence he was a war correspondent. He was the editor of the army magazine and afterwards of a children’s magazine. Tanny started publishing poetry in 1938 and also published children’s books. He founded “Hebrew Book Week” in 1959. Tanny’s accomplishments also include the translation of Heinrich Heine’s poetry into Hebrew. He was awarded the Bialik Prize.