Hayyim Nachman Bialik
חיים נחמן ביאליק
Hayyim Nachman Bialik (1873-1934) was born in the Ukraine. He received a strict Jewish education but became attracted to the Enlightenment movement. At 18, he went to Odessa and became active in Jewish literary circles. By 1901, critics were calling him “the poet of national renaissance.” After working as a bookkeeper, he taught, published, translated, and was literary editor of the Odessa weekly, Hashiloah. In 1921, Bialik was allowed to leave the Ukraine and went to Berlin, where he founded the Dvir Publishing House (later relocated to Tel Aviv). He settled in Tel Aviv in 1924 and devoted himself to cultural activities and public affairs. Since that time, he has been recognized as the greatest Hebrew poet of modern times, and is still known as “the national poet of Israel”. Books of Bialik`s poetry and stories have been published in 14 languages.