Haim Gouri facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Haim Gouri
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Haim Gouri (2005)
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| Born |
Haim Gurfinkel
9 October 1923 |
| Died | 31 January 2018 (aged 94) |
| Citizenship | Israel |
| Alma mater | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; the Sorbonne |
| Occupation | Poet, novelist, journalist, and documentary filmmaker |
| Awards |
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Haim Gouri (Hebrew: חיים גורי; born Gurfinkel; 9 October 1923 – 31 January 2018) was a famous Israeli poet, writer, journalist, and filmmaker. Many people thought he was one of Israel's best poets. He won the Israel Prize for poetry in 1988. He also received many other important national awards.
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About Haim Gouri
Haim Gurfinkel, who later changed his name to Gouri, was born in Tel Aviv. After finishing high school at the Kadoorie Agricultural High School, he joined a special military group called the Palmach. He even became a commander.
He took part in an important mission. This mission involved bombing a British radar station. This station was being used to find ships carrying Jewish immigrants. These immigrants were trying to reach Palestine, which was then called Mandate Palestine. In 1947, he went to Hungary. His job was to help Holocaust survivors travel to Mandate Palestine. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, he was a leader in the Palmach's Negev Brigade.
Gouri later studied literature. He went to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Sorbonne in Paris. As a journalist, he wrote for newspapers like LaMerhav and Davar. He became very well-known for his reports. This was especially true for his coverage of the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann.
His Family Life
Haim Gouri lived in Jerusalem with his wife, Aliza. He passed away on January 31, 2018, when he was 94 years old.
His Writing Career
Gouri's very first poem was called Day Voyage. It was published in a magazine called Mishmar in 1945. His first full book of poems, Flowers of Fire, came out in 1949. This was right after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
Some of the poems Haim Gouri wrote became very important to the people of Israel. One of his most famous poems is "Behold, here our bodies lie" (Hebrew: הנה מוטלות גופותינו). He wrote this poem during Israel's war for independence (1948-1949). It was written to remember 35 soldiers. They were killed while trying to reach the settlements of Gush Etzion (Hebrew: גוש עציון). Gouri also wrote several popular songs. One famous song is "The Comradeship" (Hebrew: הרעות). This song also became a symbol of Israel's fight for independence.
Awards and Special Recognition
Haim Gouri received many awards for his work:
- In 1961, he won the Sokolow Award for Israeli Journalism.
- His film The 81st Blow was nominated for an Academy Award in 1974. This film is part of a powerful series about the Holocaust. The other films in this series are The Last Sea and Flames in the Ashes.
- In 1975, Gouri received the Bialik Prize for literature.
- In 1988, he was given the Israel Prize for his Hebrew poetry. This is one of Israel's highest honors.
- In 1998, he won the Uri Zvi Grinberg award.
- In 2004, he received the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works.
- In 2016, Gouri chose not to accept an award. This award was from the Israeli Ministry of Culture and Sport. It was a prize for "Zionist works of art."
His Published Books
Haim Gouri wrote many books. They include poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.
Poetry Books
- Flowers of Fire (Hebrew: פרחי אש) (1949)
- Till Dawn (Hebrew: עד עלות השחר) (1950)
- Poems of the Seal (Hebrew: שירי חותם) (1954)
- Compass Rose (Hebrew: שושנת רוחות) (1960)
- Gehazi Visions (Hebrew: מראות גיחזי) (1967)
- Movement to Touch (Hebrew: תנועה למגע) (1968)
- The Eagle Line (Hebrew: עד קו נשר) (1975)
- Summer's End (Hebrew: מחברות אלול) (1985)
- The One Who Came After Me (Hebrew: הבא אחרי) (1993)
- Words in My Love-Sick Blood (selected poems in English translation) (1996)
- The Poems (Hebrew: השירים), in two volumes (1998)
- Late Poems (Hebrew: מאוחרים) (2002)
- I Am a Civil War (Hebrew: אני מלחמת אזרחים) (2004)
- Eyval (Hebrew: עיבל) (2009)
- Though I Wished for More of More (Hebrew: אף שרציתי עוד קצת עוד) (2015)
Fiction Books
- The Chocolate Deal (Hebrew: הספר המשוגע) (1965)
- The Crazy Book (Hebrew: הספר המשוגע) (1971)
- The Interrogation, The Story of Reuel (Hebrew: החקירה, סיפור רעואל) (1980)
- Who Knows Joseph G? (Hebrew: מי מכיר את יוסף ג') (1980)
Non-fiction Books
- Pages of Jerusalem (Hebrew: דפים ירושלמיים) (1968)
- Facing the Glass Booth: the Jerusalem Trial of Adolf Eichmann (1962)
- The Imprint of Memory (Hebrew: חותם הזיכרון) (2015)
Documentary Films
Haim Gouri also worked on several documentary films:
- The 81st Blow (Ha-Makah Hashmonim V'Echad, 1974)
- The Last Sea (Ha-Yam Ha'Aharon, 1980)
- Flames in the Ashes (Pnei Hamered, 1985)
See also
- Hareut
- Hebrew literature
- Sokolov Award
- List of Israel Prize recipients
- List of Bialik Prize recipients
