10 Facts About Ethel Portnoy

Ethel Portnoy was a Dutch writer of prose, who wrote essays, columns, short stories, travel stories and several novels.

Ethel Portnoy was born in Philadelphia but grew up in the Bronx in New York City as the daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants.

Ethel Portnoy took classes in English literature in New York City and learned French in the United States, then departed to Europe in 1950 with a Fulbright for the University of Lyon.

Ethel Portnoy studied cultural anthropology and archeology in Paris, with Claude Levi-Strauss amongst others.

Ethel Portnoy married Dutch author Rudy Kousbroek in 1951.

Ethel Portnoy raised two children and until 1962 she worked at the UNESCO.

Ethel Portnoy worked for Dutch papers and was published in Randstad, in the weeklies Haagse Post and Vrij Nederland and in the NRC Handelsblad.

Ethel Portnoy debuted as a novelist in 1971 at the age of 44 with the book Steen en Been.

Ethel Portnoy wrote in English, but considered herself a Dutch writer.

Ethel Portnoy's books were translated by her husband, their daughter Hepzibah Kousbroek and by Tinke Davids.