Ephraim Kishon

Ephraim Kishon (1924-2005), one of Israel’s best-loved writers abroad, was born in Hungary. He studied sculpture and painting and later wrote for the Hungarian stage as well as publishing humorous essays. He immigrated to Israel in 1949 and started publishing in Hebrew two years later. The feature films, Sallah Shabati and Blaumilch Canal, which he wrote, directed and produced, were distributed worldwide. His play,The Marriage Contract, had one of the longest runs ever in Israeli theater, and his sketches and plays have been performed on stage as well as on TV in many countries. Kishon published 42 books for adults and eight children’s books. His work has been published in almost 40 languages. Kishon was awarded the Bundesverdienstkreuz, First Class, Germany’s highest award for literature (1990), the Bialik Prize (1998), the Israel Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2002) and the Publishers Association’s Gold and Platinum Prizes for My Family Right or Wrong (2002; 2004).

Photo by: Dan Porges