14 Facts About Haim Hazaz

Haim Hazaz was born in the village of Sidorovichi, Kiev Governorate in the Russian Empire, the same village of future prime minister Yitzhak Rabin's family.

Haim Hazaz's father, a Breslov Hasidic Jew, was a timber agent and the family spent long periods of time in the forests around Kyiv.

In 1914, at the age of 16, Haim Hazaz left home and joined a group of Jewish students in Radomyshl, preparing for matriculation examinations.

Haim Hazaz then became more familiar with classic and contemporary works of Russian authors.

Haim Hazaz was introduced to the works of the great Hebrew poet, Hayim Nahman Bialik in Ze'ev Jabotinsky's Russian translation.

In 1918 Haim Hazaz published his first poem, "On Guard" in the central Hebrew literary journal of those days, HaShiloah, and received much encouragement from its editor, Joseph Klausner.

In 1921, Haim Hazaz succeeded in making his way from the port of Sevastopol to Istanbul, leaving Russia, never to return.

Haim Hazaz lived in Turkey for almost two years among the young Jewish pioneers who made their way to British Mandate of Palestine, teaching Hebrew at the Hakhshara farm near Istanbul.

In 1923 Haim Hazaz moved to Paris, where he made himself a name as a Hebrew writer.

In 1930 Haim Hazaz published his first book, the novel In a Forest Settlement in two volumes.

In 1951, Haim Hazaz married Aviva Kushnir, his right-hand in his endeavors as an author and public figure, and an impressive intellectual in her own right.

Haim Hazaz bequeathed his literary inheritance to his wife and entrusted her with the preparation of his unpublished manuscripts for printing.

Haim Hazaz died of a heart attack on 24 March 1973 and was buried in the old cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

Haim Hazaz spoke frequently at gatherings of Israeli writers and in various academic institutions, during his visits to the United States and Europe in the 1960s and early 1970s.