Hayyim Nahman Bialik (1873–1934)

Hayyim Nahman Bialik was born to a Jewish family in Volhynia, Russia (present-day Ukraine). His parents were to Itzik-Yosef Bialik, a scholar and businessman, and his wife Dinah-Priveh. At age 17, Bialik was sent to the great Talmudic academy in Volozhin, Lithuania, where he was attracted to the Jewish Enlightenment movement and joined the Hibbat Zion group founded in response to the anti-Semitic pogroms in the Russian Empire. Bialik gradually drifted away from religious life. He went to Odessa, where he became active in Jewish literary circles and met Ahad Ha'am (pen name of Asher Hirsch Ginsberg), a central figure in cultural Zionism, who had a great influence on his thinking. It was at this time that Bialik published his first poem, "El Ha-Tzipor" (To the Bird), written in Hebrew. He studied Russian and German language and literature and eked out a living as a teacher. In 1893, he married Manya Averbuch and worked for some time as a bookkeeper in his father-in-law’s business. He also translated works and for six years was literary editor of Ha'am's journal Ha-Shiloah. In 1901, he published his first collection of poetry to great acclaim. Over the next three years, he wrote a considerable number of works in what commentators consider his golden period. In 1921, he moved to Berlin, where he founded the Dvir publishing house. He moved the company to Tel Aviv in the British Mandate of Palestine in 1924 and devoted himself to cultural activities and public affairs. There Bialik was recognized and celebrated as a major literary figure. By writing in Hebrew, he contributed significantly to the revival of Hebrew as a modern language. In 1927, he became head of the Hebrew Writers Union, a position he held until his death. His poetry and prose have been widely translated are still read in Israel today; several of his poems have been set to music. During his lifetime, Bialik was called the "national poet," a title that has continued in Israel. His short stories dealt realistically with subjects drawn from contemporary events, and his legends and folktales showed a fertile imagination and a gentle sense of humor.