Israeli cultural icon author Abraham B. Yehoshua died on Tuesday after a battle with cancer. He was 85.
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The author of dozens of books, poems, and plays, Yehoshua was the recipient of dozens of major awards, including the 1995 Israel Prize, the Bialik Prize and the Jewish National Book Award.
Lauded by the New York Times as "Israel's Faulkner," his work was translated into 28 languages.
Hailed as one of the most influential and important Israeli authors, Yehoshua was born in 1936 to a fifth-generation Jerusalem family. His father, Yaakov Yehoshua, was a scholar and author specializing in the history of Jerusalem. His mother, Malka Rosilio, emigrated from Morocco in 1932. He grew up in Jerusalem's Kerem Avraham
He was educated at the Gymnasia Rechavia, a secular school in Jerusalem, and went on to serve in the airborne battalion of the IDF's Nahal Brigade. He later attended the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, studying literature and philosophy.
From 1963 to 1967, Yehoshua lived and taught in Paris and served as the General Secretary of the World Union of Jewish Students. In 1972, he began teaching Comparative and Hebrew Literature at the University of Haifa. He was a writer-in-residence at St. Cross College, Oxford (1975) and was a visiting professor at Harvard (1977), the University of Chicago (1988, 1997, 2000) and Princeton (1992).
Yehoshua penned 26 novels, and dozens of essays and plays, among them The Lover (1977), The Return from India (1994,), Mr. Mani (1989), A Journey to the End of the Millennium (1997), and Friendly Fire: A Duet (2007) – to name a few.
"How sad and how symbolic that Abraham B. Yehoshua passed away during Book Week," President Isaac Herzog eulogized, referring to the annual literary festival marked in Israel each spring.
"Boolie, as those who knew and loved him called him, was one of the greatest Israeli authors, a decorated author and playwright he granted us the greatest award there is – his unforgettable body of work that will be with us for generations to come."
Culture and Sports Minister Chili Tropper also called Yehoshua "one of the greatest Hebrew authors," saying, "His successful books contributed greatly to the wealth of Israeli literature and culture. Beyond his rare talent, Yehoshua was caring and very sensitive to the challenges Israel faced as a society. His words and stories are deeply rooted in Israeli literature and in the hearts of his many loving readers."
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, who prior to entering politics authored 11 books, tweeted, "Today, we lost a wonderful human being and a great author. Israel Prize laureate Abraham B. Yehoshua was a unique voice between east and west, the intimate and the national, and between a rare love of man and utter clarity about human weaknesses. He will be sorely missed and his work will be with us forever. May his memory be blessed."
Yehoshua is survived by his three children and six grandchildren. His funeral is slated to be held on Wednesday afternoon.
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