Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Born	July 17, 1888 Buczacz, Galicia
Died	February 17, 1970 Jerusalem, Israel

Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Hebrew: שמואל יוסף עגנון; known as shay agnon, born Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes) (July 17, 1888 – February 17, 1970) was the first Hebrew writer to win the Nobel Prize in literature (1966). He won the prize jointly with poet Nelly Sachs. Image File history File links Agnon. ... July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining. ... 1888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... Buchach (Ukrainian: Бучач, Buchach; Polish: Buczacz; Yiddish: בעטשאָטש, Betshotsh; German Butschatsch) is a small town in the Ternopil Oblast of Ukraine. ... The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, or simply Galicia, was the largest, most populous, and northernmost province of Austria from 1772 until 1918, with Lemberg (Lwów, Lviv) as its capital city. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Jerusalem and the Old City. ... July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining. ... 1888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than 6 million people, mainly in Israel, the West Bank, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ... The Nobel Prize in literature is awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words of Alfred Nobel, produced the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency. The work in this case generally refers to an authors work as a whole, not to any individual... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... Nelly Sachs, (10 December 1891, Berlin - 12 May 1970, Stockholm) was a German poet and dramatist who was transformed by the Nazi experience from a dilettante into a poignant spokesperson for the grief and yearnings of her fellow Jews. ...

One of the central figures in modern Hebrew fiction, Agnon was born in Galicia, later immigrated as a Zionist to Palestine, and died in Israeli Jerusalem. His works deal with the conflict between the traditional Jewish life and language and the modern world. They also attempt to recapture the fading traditions of the European shtetl (village). In a wider context, he also contributed to the narrator's character in modern literature. The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, or simply Galicia, was the largest, most populous, and northernmost province of Austria from 1772 until 1918, with Lemberg (Lwów, Lviv) as its capital city. ... A bilingual poster in Romanian and Hungarian promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s. ... Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Jerusalem and the Old City. ... The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי transliterated: Yehudi) is used in many ways, but generally refers to a follower of Judaism, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity; and often a combination of these attributes. ... A shtetl or shtetele (שטעטל, in Yiddish, derived from the German städtlein, meaning little town/city) was typically a small town or village with a large Jewish population in pre-Holocaust Central Europe and Eastern Europe. ...

Life

He was born as Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes in Buczacz in Austrian Galicia, in what is now Ukraine. Although his birthdate on the Hebrew calendar is given as 18 Av 5648 (July 26) by some sources [1], he himself was known to state his birthdate as the ninth, the Tisha B'Av commemoration. His father, Shalom Mordechai Halevy, was ordained as a rabbi, but dealt in the fur trade. Young Shmuel did not go to school. He was educated by his parents. When he was eight he began to write in Hebrew and Yiddish, and read extensively in the writers of the Jewish enlightenment, the Haskalah. At the age of fifteen he produced his first creative work, a poem in Yiddish about the Kabbalist Joseph della Reina. He continued to produce poems and stories in Hebrew and Yiddish in manuscripts that were published in Galicia. Buchach (Ukrainian: Бучач, Buchach; Polish: Buczacz; Yiddish: בעטשאָטש, Betshotsh; German Butschatsch) is a small town in the Ternopil Oblast of Ukraine. ... The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, or simply Galicia, was the largest, most populous, and northernmost province of Austria from 1772 until 1918, with Lemberg (Lwów, Lviv) as its capital city. ... This figure, in a detail of a medieval Hebrew calendar, reminded Jews of the palm branch (Lulav), the myrtle twigs, the willow branches, and the citron (Etrog) to be held in the hand and to be brought to the synagogue during the holiday of sukkot, near the end of the... July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... // Tisha BAv (תשעה באב tish‘āh bÉ™-āḇ) is a major annual fast day in Judaism. ... Yiddish (ייִדיש, Jiddisch) is a Germanic language spoken by about four million Jews throughout the world. ... Haskalah (Hebrew: השכלה; enlightenment, intellect, from sekhel, common sense), the Jewish Enlightenment, was a religious movement among European Jews in the late 18th century that advocated adopting enlightenment values, pressing for better integration into European society, and increasing education in secular studies, Hebrew, and Jewish history. ... Kabbalah (Hebrew קַבָּלָה reception, Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah, Kaballah) is an interpretation (exegesis, hermeneutic) key, soul of the Torah (Hebrew Bible), or the religious mystical system of Judaism claiming an...

In 1908 he emigrated to Jaffa, which was then an Ottoman port. By doing so, he reached the land of Israel with the Zionists of the Second Aliyah. There he abandoned the Jewish religious way of life for a time, but came back to the religion and adhered to it for the rest of his life. The first work that he released there was "Forsaken Wives" (agunot), published in the journal Ha`omer in 1908. He signed it with the pen name "Agnon," derived from the name of the story. It became his literary name, and in 1924, his official surname. 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Jaffa (Hebrew יָפוֹ, Standard Hebrew Yafo, Tiberian Hebrew Yāp̄ô; Arabic يَافَا Yāfā; also Japho, Joppa), is an ancient city located in Israel. ... Imperial motto (Ottoman Turkish) Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (the Eternal State) The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital Bursa (1335 - 1365), Edirne (1365-1453), İstanbul (Constantinople) (1453-1922) Imperial anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Sovereigns Padishah of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40... The Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael) is the land that made up the ancient Jewish Kingdoms of Israel and Judah. ... For other meanings, please see Zionism (disambiguation) Poster promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s:Toward a New Life (in Romanian),The Promised Land (in Hungarian) 1844 Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews by Mordecai Noah, page one. ... Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. ... 1908 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1910 his story "Forsaken Wives" was translated into German. Since then, his works have been translated into many languages. 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

In 1912, at the initiative of Yosef Haim Brenner, he published the novella And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight. 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ... Yosef Haim Brenner, alternately Yosef Chaim Brenner, (1881 - 1921) was a Ukrainian-born Hebrew-language author, one of the pioneers of literature in modern Hebrew. ...

In 1913 he moved to Germany, where he married Esther Marx in 1920. In Germany he met the businessman Salman Schoken, who became his publisher, freeing him from financial worries. From that time on, all of his works were published by Schocken companies. His short stories regularly appeared in the newspaper Haaretz, also owned by the Schocken family. In Germany he wrote several stories. He also worked to collect Hasidic stories, together with Martin Buber, that influenced Neo Hasidism. 1913 (MCMXIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1920 (MCMXX) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Haaretz (Hebrew: הארץ ▶(?), The Land) is an Israeli newspaper, founded in 1919. ... Hasidic Judaism (from the Hebrew: Chasidut חסידות, meaning pious, from the Hebrew root word chesed חסד meaning loving kindness) is a Haredi Jewish religious movement. ... Martin Buber (8 February 1878 - 13 June 1965) was a renowned Jewish philosopher, story-teller, and pedagogue. ... Neo-Hasidism is a name commonly given to the significant revival of interest in Hasidic Judaism on the part of non-Orthodox Jews due to the writings of non-Orthodox Hasidic Jewish authors like Martin Buber, Arthur Green and Abraham Joshua Heschel. ...

In 1924 a fire broke out in his home, destroying all of his manuscripts. This traumatic event appears occasionally in his stories. Later that year, he returned to Jerusalem permanently, establishing himself in the Talpiot neighborhood. In 1929 his library was destroyed again, in Arab riots. 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Jerusalem and the Old City. ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1931 the novel The Bridal Canopy was published, making Agnon a central figure in Hebrew literature. In 1935 the novella A Simple Story was published, set in Buczacz at the end of the 19th century. 1931 (MCMXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1945 Yesteryear was published, a novel set in the Land of Israel at the beginning of the 20th century. 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Agnon won the Bialik Prize twice (1934 and 1950) and the Israel Prize twice (1954 and 1958). In 1966 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. This award came with a degree of disappointment when, after the announcement of his award, it became clear that it was joint with the Jewish poet Nelly Sachs. Thus "half" of the world's adulation was taken from him. The awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to two winners is a rare occurrence, taking place only four times in the 20th century. 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... The Nobel Prize in literature is awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words of Alfred Nobel, produced the most outstanding work of an idealistic tendency. The work in this case generally refers to an authors work as a whole, not to any individual... Nelly Sachs, (10 December 1891, Berlin - 12 May 1970, Stockholm) was a German poet and dramatist who was transformed by the Nazi experience from a dilettante into a poignant spokesperson for the grief and yearnings of her fellow Jews. ...

In his speech at the award ceremony, Agnon introduced himself in Hebrew: "As a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the Exile. But always I regarded myself as one who was born in Jerusalem." (Frenz 1969)

The following story shows how greatly Agnon, the author and the man, was revered. He complained that the traffic on the street next to his house, in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem, disturbed his writing activity. In response the city closed the street to vehicular traffic and posted a sign saying, "No entry to all vehicles, writer at work!"

S.Y. Agnon passed away in Jerusalem on February 17, 1970. After his death his daughter, Emmuna Yaron, continued to work to publish writings from his legacy. More of his books were published after his death than during his life. February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Agnon's archive was transferred by his family to the National Library in Jerusalem. His house became property of the city of Jerusalem. It is open to visitors. Agnon is considered the most researched author in Hebrew literature. A substantial number of books and articles dealing with his works have been published. Among his most outstanding scholars are Baruch Kurzweil, Dov Seden, and Dan Laor.

Agnon is depicted on the two designs for fifty-shekel notes that first appeared in 1985 and 1998. 1 sheqel coin (1994–5). ... This article is about the year. ... 1998(MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Works

The wellspring of Agnon's works is Judaism in all of its aspects, such as customs, faith, and language. Agnon gives them his own touch and a unique commentary. They are all expressed in his works, which are unique in their content and language. Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. ...

Agnon was also influenced by German literature and culture specifically and European literature in general, which he read in German translation. The budding Hebrew literature also influenced his works. Some of his protagonists are Zionists of the Second Aliyah. Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than 6 million people, mainly in Israel, the West Bank, the United States and by Jewish communities around the world. ... For other meanings, please see Zionism (disambiguation) Poster promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s:Toward a New Life (in Romanian),The Promised Land (in Hungarian) 1844 Discourse on the Restoration of the Jews by Mordecai Noah, page one. ...

The communities he passed through in his life are reflected in his works:

• Galicia: in the books The Bridal Canopy, A City and the Fullness Thereof, and A Guest for the Night.
• Germany: in the stories "Fernheim", "Thus Far", and "Between Two Cities".
• Jaffa: in the stories "Oath of Allegiance", "Yesteryear", and "The Dune".
• Jerusalem: "Prayer", "Yesteryear", "Ido ve-Inam", and "Shira". - (according to Amos Oz' autobiographical novel "A Tale of Love and Darkness" (2003) in this novel his granduncle, the jewish Horistoric Joseph Gedalja Klausner which house in Talpiot (Jerusalem) was in front of Agnon one's is characterized "in the incarnation of the foolish Professor Bachlam..." .)

Agnon's substantial selection of stories have been published in various collections. Some of his works, such as The Bridal Canopy, And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight, and The Doctor and His Ex-Wife, have been adapted for theater and performed in Israeli theaters. Some of them have aired on Israeli television. Amos Oz, November 7, 2004 Amos Oz (born May 4, 1939), birth name Amos Klausner, is an Israeli writer, novelist, and journalist. ... Joseph Klausner (1874-1958) was a brilliant Jewish scholar born in Lithuania who emigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine, and died in Israel. ... Talpiot, is a neighborhood in southeastern Jerusalem that was established in the 1930s by Zionist Jews. ... Jerusalem and the Old City. ...

Writings published during his life

The following stories and passages were first published in various manuscripts, and afterward were collected in eight volumes.

• The Bridal Canopy (1931), an epic describing Galician Judaism at the start of the 19th century.
• Of Such and Of Such, a collection of stories, including "And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight", "Forsaken Wives", and "In the Heart of Seas".
• At the Handles of the Lock (1923), a collection of love stories, including "In the Prime of Her Life", "A Simple Story", and "The Dune".
• A Guest for the Night (1938), a novel.
• Yesteryear (1945), a novel.
• Near and Apparent, a collection of stories, including "The Two Sages Who Were In Our City", "Between Two Cities", "The Lady and the Peddler", the collection "The Book of Deeds", the satire "Chapters of the National Manual", and "Introduction to the Kaddish: After the Funerals of Those Murdered in the Land of Israel".
• Thus Far, a collection of stories, including "Thus Far", "Prayer", "Oath of Allegiance", "The Garment", "Fernheim", and "Ido ve-Inam".
• The Fire and the Wood, a collection of Hasidic stories.

Anthologies edited

• Days of Awe (1938), a book of customs, interpretations, and legends for the Jewish days of mercy and forgiveness: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the days between.
• Present at Sinai: The Giving of the Law (1959), an anthology for the festival of Shavuot.

This article is about the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. ... Yom Kippur (1878) Yom Kippur (יום כיפור yom kippūr) is the Jewish holiday of the Day of Atonement. ... Shavuot (Hebrew שבועות), ([seven] weeks) (pronounced: shah-voo-OH-t) is one of the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals. ...

Writings published posthumously

• Shira (1971), a novel set in Jerusalem in the 1930s and 1940s.
• A City and the Fullness Thereof (1973), a collection of stories and legends about Buczacz, the town of Agnon's youth.
• In Mr. Lublin's Shop (1974), set in Germany of the First World War.
• Within the Wall (1975), a collection of four stories.
• From Myself to Myself (1976), a collection of essays and speeches.
• Introductions (1977), stories.
• Book, Writer and Story (1978), stories about writers and books from the Jewish sources.
• The Beams of Our House (1979), two stories, the first about a Jewish family in Galicia, the second about the history of Agnon's family.
• Dear Esther: Letters 1924-1931 (1983), letters from Agnon to his wife.
• A Shroud of Stories (1985).
• The Correspondence between S.Y. Agnon and Z. Schocken (1991), letters between Agnon and his publisher.

In 1977 the Hebrew University published Yiddish Works, a collection of stories and poems that Agnon wrote in Yiddish in the years 1903-1906. For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). ... The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (האוניברסיטה העברית בירושלים) is one of Israels biggest and most important institutes of higher learning and research. ...

His special language

Agnon's Hebrew language is based on, among other sources, the books of Moses and the Prophets, Midrashic literature, the Mishnah, and rabbinic legends. Agnon's unique style is noticeable from the very first sentence. Examples: Neviim [נביאים] or Prophets is the second of the three major sections in the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). ... Midrash (pl. ... The Mishnah (Hebrew משנה, repetition) is a major source of rabbinic Judaisms religious texts. ... Rabbinic literature, in the broadest sense, can mean the entire spectrum of Judaisms rabbinic writing/s throughout history. ...

• bet kahava for modern bet kafe (coffee house)
• batei yadayim (lit. "hand-houses") for modern "kfafot" (gloves)
• yatzta for modern yatz'a ("she went out")

Bar-Ilan University went so far as to make a computerized concordance of his works in order to study his language. Bar-Ilan University (BIU, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן) is a university in Ramat Gan, Israel. ...

References

• Much of the content of this article comes from שמואל יוסף עגנון (Shmuel Yosef Agnon) in the Hebrew-language Wikipedia. Retrieved January 5, 2005.

• Jewish Agency for Israel. Agnon, Shmuel Yosef. Retrieved January 12, 2005.

• Horst Frenz, ed. Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing Company, 1969. Cited in "Samuel Agnon – Banquet Speech" (nobelprize.org), retrieved January 17, 2005.

• Biography of Shmuel Yosef Agnon