Benjamin Tammuz(July 11, 1919–July 19, 1989) was an Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i writer and artist who contributed to Israeli culture in many disciplines, as a novelist, journalist, critic, painter, and sculptor.

Benjamin Tammuz was born in Soviet Russia. When he was five years old, he emigrated with his parents to Palestine, where he subsequently attended the Tachkemoni school and the Herzliya Hebrew High School

Herzliya Hebrew High School

The Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium , originally known as HaGymnasia HaIvrit is a historic high school in Tel Aviv, Israel.-History:...

 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...

. From an early age, he engaged in writing, sculpture, and painting. He also took an avid interest in art history

Art history

Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...

, going on to study that subject at the Sorbonne

University of Paris

The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. While growing up, he became a member of the Communist underground. As a youth he was a member of the Canaanite movement. More than his teachers and friends, the artist Yitzhak Danziger

Yitzhak Danziger

Yitzhak Danziger was an Israeli sculptor. He was one of the pioneer sculptors of the Canaanite Movement, and later joined the "Ofakim Hadashim" group.- Biography :Danziger was born in Berlin in 1916 to a Zionist family...

 was an influence on him.

In 1948, Tammuz joined the editorial board of Haaretz

Haaretz

Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...

. At first he wrote the popular column "Uzi & Co." Later he edited the children's newspaper Haaretz Shelanu. From 1965, he edited Haaretzs literary and cultural supplement, serving as the art critic there. From 1971 to 1975, he served as cultural attaché at the Israeli embassy in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. From 1979 to 1984, he was invited as a writer-in-residence at Oxford University. Benjamin Tammuz died in 1989 in Tel Aviv.

Books published in English

• A Castle in Spain (1973), translation of Be-Sof Ma'arav (1966)
• A Rare Cure (stories, 1981), translation of Angioxyl, Terufah Nedirah (1973)
• Minotaur (1981), translation of the Hebrew-language novel of the same title (1980)
• Requiem for Na'aman (1982), translation of Requiem Le-Na'aman (1978)
• The Orchard (novella, 1984), translation of Ha-Pardes (1972)