Shimon Halkin
שמעון הלקין
Simon Halkin (1898-1987), poet, novelist, scholar and educator, was born in Russia and emigrated to New York with his family in 1914. He earned degrees from the Hebrew Union College and Columbia University and went on to teach Hebrew Literature and Language. Between 1932 and 1939, he taught English in Tel Aviv and then returned to America and became professor of Hebrew Literature at the Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. He returned to Israel in 1949 and was appointed Head of the Department of Hebrew Literature at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He published books of poetry, two novels, short stories and major works of criticism. He translated works by Shakespeare, Shelley and Whitman into Hebrew. Halkin lived in Jerusalem until his death.