Alexander Penn
Encyclopedia
Alexander Penn was an Israel
i poet.
, Russia. As a youth, he was a boxer
. He moved to Moscow in 1920, to study cinema, and published his first poems in Russian that year. In 1927, he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine. He worked as a boxing trainer in Tel Aviv
, as well as a farm hand, a construction worker and a guard.
and a variety of literary magazines. Penn was a devout Marxist, and a member of the Israeli Communist Party. He edited the literary section of the party's paper Kol Ha'am.
Among many other works, Penn composed the poem "Vidui" (My Confession), a turbulent piece about love and death. The poem was set to music in the early 1970s and has been recorded since then by numerous Israeli singers and musicians, including Michal Tal who was the first to make a recording of it, Yehudit Ravitz
, Gila Almagor
, and most recently Marina Maximilian Blumin.
In 2005, Penn was voted the 171st-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet
to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.
Dalia Karpel wrote in a review published in the newspaper Haaretz, of Penn's life and work:
Penn was a contemporary of Israeli poets Avraham Shlonsky
and Natan Alterman. He left romantic love poems, conformist and non-conformist patriotic poems, political poems and well-known songs.
But most of his fame seemed to derive from his Bohemian lifestyle. He contracted diabetes before the age of 30, but did not stop smoking and drinking large quantities of alcohol, and saw himself as someone who can overcome the weaknesses of the body in defiance of medical science. His cruel attitude toward women did not prevent many of them from falling in love with the talented and handsome poet. His romance with communism, on the other hand, led to his ostracism. To the end, he was upset that Alterman, who wrote "The Seventh Column," a weekly column of political verse in the now-defunct Labor Party newspaper Davar, was identified as the father of the genre in Hebrew poetry, while he, Penn, had had a similar column in Davar even before Alterman.
In 1989, Prof. Halperin published a first biography of Penn, "Shalekhet Kokhavim" (Shedding of the Stars: Alexander Penn. His Life and Work Until 1940, Hebrew). In the new biography she presents updated facts about his life. He was born Avraham Pepliker-Stern in 1905 - that is what is written on his card in the Political Red Cross archive, says Halperin. His father, Yosef Stern, ran a heder (a Hebrew school for young children) for a while, and afterward was a Hebrew teacher and wrote poems as well. He changed his family name to Pepliker in order to avoid military service. Penn shorted the name and took the "peh" from Pepliker and the final "nun" from Stern.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i poet.
Early years
Penn was born in Nizhne KolymskNizhne Kolymsk
Nizhnekolymsk is a village in Nizhnekolymsky Ulus of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located within the Arctic Circle near the East Siberian Sea on the left bank of the Kolyma River, 80 km south of Chersky. Population: 6,000 ....
, Russia. As a youth, he was a boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. He moved to Moscow in 1920, to study cinema, and published his first poems in Russian that year. In 1927, he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine. He worked as a boxing trainer in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, as well as a farm hand, a construction worker and a guard.
Career
Penn began writing poetry in Hebrew, which he learned only after settling in Palestine. He published these poems in the daily Hebrew newspaper DavarDavar
Davar was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the Mandate Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996.-History:Davar was established by Moshe Beilinson and Berl Katznelson, with Katznelson as its first editor. The first edition was published on 1 June 1925 under the name Davar - Iton...
and a variety of literary magazines. Penn was a devout Marxist, and a member of the Israeli Communist Party. He edited the literary section of the party's paper Kol Ha'am.
Among many other works, Penn composed the poem "Vidui" (My Confession), a turbulent piece about love and death. The poem was set to music in the early 1970s and has been recorded since then by numerous Israeli singers and musicians, including Michal Tal who was the first to make a recording of it, Yehudit Ravitz
Yehudit Ravitz
Yehudit Ravitz is an Israeli singer-songwriter. She was born in Be'er Sheva, in southern Israel. As of 2010, she had released 20 albums and has been performing for nearly 20 years, also musically producing several albums for other musicians.-Music career:...
, Gila Almagor
Gila Almagor
Gila Almagor is an Israeli actress, film star, and author.-Biography:Gila Almagor was born four months after the death of her father, Max Alexandrowitz, a Jewish immigrant from Germany who was killed by an Arab sniper while working as a policeman in Haifa...
, and most recently Marina Maximilian Blumin.
In 2005, Penn was voted the 171st-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet
Ynet
Ynet is the most popular Israeli news and general content website. It is owned by the same conglomerate that operates Yediot Ahronot, the country's secondleading daily newspaper...
to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.
Dalia Karpel wrote in a review published in the newspaper Haaretz, of Penn's life and work:
Penn was a contemporary of Israeli poets Avraham Shlonsky
Avraham Shlonsky
Avraham Shlonsky was a significant and dynamic Israeli poet and editor born in Russian Empire.He was influential in the development of modern Hebrew and its literature in Israel through his many acclaimed translations of literary classics, particularly from Russian, as well as his own original...
and Natan Alterman. He left romantic love poems, conformist and non-conformist patriotic poems, political poems and well-known songs.
But most of his fame seemed to derive from his Bohemian lifestyle. He contracted diabetes before the age of 30, but did not stop smoking and drinking large quantities of alcohol, and saw himself as someone who can overcome the weaknesses of the body in defiance of medical science. His cruel attitude toward women did not prevent many of them from falling in love with the talented and handsome poet. His romance with communism, on the other hand, led to his ostracism. To the end, he was upset that Alterman, who wrote "The Seventh Column," a weekly column of political verse in the now-defunct Labor Party newspaper Davar, was identified as the father of the genre in Hebrew poetry, while he, Penn, had had a similar column in Davar even before Alterman.
In 1989, Prof. Halperin published a first biography of Penn, "Shalekhet Kokhavim" (Shedding of the Stars: Alexander Penn. His Life and Work Until 1940, Hebrew). In the new biography she presents updated facts about his life. He was born Avraham Pepliker-Stern in 1905 - that is what is written on his card in the Political Red Cross archive, says Halperin. His father, Yosef Stern, ran a heder (a Hebrew school for young children) for a while, and afterward was a Hebrew teacher and wrote poems as well. He changed his family name to Pepliker in order to avoid military service. Penn shorted the name and took the "peh" from Pepliker and the final "nun" from Stern.
External links
- Alexander Penn, Has It Ever Been?, translated into English by Yuval Marton