Shmuel Yosef Agnon

Recipient of the 1966 Nobel Prize for Literature, Shmuel Yosef Agnon (July 17, 1888 – February 17, 1970), born Shmuel Yosef Czaczkes, was the first Hebrew writer awarded the prize, which he won jointly with poet Nelly Sachs in 1966. Agnon was also awarded Israel Prize both in 1954 and in 1958. One of the central figures in modern Hebrew fiction, Agnon was born in Galicia, later immigrated as a Zionist to Israel, and died in Jerusalem.

Called "a man of unquestionable genius" and "one of the great storytellers of our time," S.Y. Agnon is among the most effusively praised and widely translated Hebrew authors. His unique style and language have influenced the writing of subsequent generations of Hebrew authors. Much of his writing attempted to recapture the lives and traditions of a former time, but his stories were never a simple act of preservation. Agnon's tales dealt with the most important psychological and philosophical problems of his generation.

An observant Jew throughout most of his life, he was able to capture "the hopelessness and spiritual desolation" of a world standing on the threshold of a new age. Extolled for his "peculiar tenderness and beauty," for his "comic mastery" and for the "richness and depth" of his writing, it is S.Y. Agnon's contribution to the renewal of the language that has been seminal for all subsequent Hebrew writing.

Life

Shmuel Yosef Agnon (1888 - 1970; b. Buczacz, Galicia), born Shmuel Yosef Halevi Czaczkes, in Buczacz in Austrian Galicia, in what is now Ukraine. Although his birthdate on the Hebrew calendar is given as 18 Av 5648 (July 26) by some sources, he himself was known to state his birthdate as the ninth, the Tisha B'Av commemoration. (Historically, the only day of the year when Jews could enter the Holy City of Jerusalem and weep for the destruction of their city at the Temple's only remaining wall.)

He was born to an affluent and urbane family where traditional Jewish culture dwelt side by side with modern European culture. While his father taught him rabbinical legends, his mother read him German stories.

His father, Shalom Mordechai Halevy, was ordained as a rabbi, but dealt in the fur trade. Young Shmuel did not go to school; he was educated by his parents. When he was eight he began to write in Hebrew and Yiddish, and read extensively the works of the Jewish enlightenment, the Haskalah. At the age of fifteen his first creative work was published, a poem in Yiddish about the Kabbalist Joseph della Reina. He continued to produce poems and stories in Hebrew and Yiddish in manuscripts that were published in Galicia.

Timeline

In 1908 he emigrated to Jaffa, Israel, which was then an Ottoman port. By doing so, he reached the land of Israel with the Zionists of the Second Aliyah. There he abandoned the Jewish religious way of life for a time, but came back to the religion and adhered to it for the rest of his life. By the time he had reached Israel, at 20 years of age, he had published some seventy pieces in Hebrew and Yiddish.

The first work that he released in Israel was "Forsaken Wives" (agunot), published in the journal Ha`omer in 1908. He signed it with the pen name "Agnon," derived from the name of the story. It became his literary name, and in 1924, his official surname.

In Jaffa, Agnon gave private lessons and occasionally worked as a clerk. In 1908 he published his first story in Eretz Israel, "Agunot" (Forsaken Souls), using the pseudonym Agnon. In 1924 he took Agnon as his official family name.

In 1910 his story "Forsaken Wives" was translated into German. Since then, his works have been translated into many languages.

In 1912, at the initiative of Yosef Haim Brenner, he published the novella And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight.

In 1913, drawn by Germany`s lively Jewish cultural life, Agnon left Eretz Israel. While there, in 1920, he married Esther Marx and the couple had two children. While first in Germany, Agnon gave private lessons and worked as an editor. Later, a wealthy Jewish businessman, Zalman Schocken, became his patron and published his works, freeing him from financial worries. From that time on, all of his works were published by Schocken Books. His short stories regularly appeared in the newspaper Haaretz, also owned by the Schocken family.

While In Germany he wrote several stories and collaborated with Martin Buber on a collection of Hasidic stories, together with Martin Buber, that influenced Neo-Hasidism. Agnon read German and French literature extensively, and became a member of a circle of Hebrew writers in Hamburg.

In 1924 fire swept his home and destroyed all his books and manuscripts, including the novel, "In the Bond of Life", whose imminent publication had already been announced. This traumatic event appears occasionally in his stories. Later that year, he returned to Jerusalem permanently, establishing himself in the Talpiot neighborhood. In 1929 his library was destroyed again.

In 1931 the novel The Bridal Canopy was published, making Agnon a central figure in Hebrew literature. In 1935 the novella A Simple Story was published, set in Buczacz at the end of the 19th century.

In 1945 Yesteryear was published, a novel set in the Land of Israel at the beginning of the 20th century.

Several of his works were published posthumously by his daughter, Emmuna Yaron.

Personally

Agnon won the Bialik Prize twice (1934 and 1950) and the Israel Prize twice (1954 and 1958). In 1966 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. This award came with a degree of disappointment when, after the announcement of his award, it became clear that it was joint with the Jewish poet Nelly Sachs. Thus "half" of the world's adulation was taken from him. The awarding of the Nobel Prize in Literature to two winners is a rare occurrence, taking place only four times in the 20th century.

In his speech at the award ceremony, Agnon introduced himself in Hebrew, saying: "As a result of the historic catastrophe in which Titus of Rome destroyed Jerusalem and Israel was exiled from its land, I was born in one of the cities of the Exile. But always I regarded myself as one who was born in Jerusalem".

The following story shows how greatly Agnon, the author and the man, was revered. He complained that the traffic on the street next to his house, in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem, disturbed his writing activity. In response the city closed the street to vehicular traffic and posted a sign saying, "No entry to all vehicles, writer at work!"

Agnon died in Jerusalem on February 17, 1970. After his death his daughter, Emmuna Yaron, continued to work to publish writings from his legacy. More of his books were published posthumously than during his life.

Agnon's archive was transferred by his family to the National Library in Jerusalem. His house became property of the city of Jerusalem and is open to visitors. Agnon is considered the most researched author in Hebrew literature. A substantial number of books and articles dealing with his works have been published. Among his most outstanding scholars are Baruch Kurzweil, Dov Seden, and Dan Laor.

Agnon is depicted on the two designs for fifty-shekel notes that first appeared in 1985 and 1998.

His special language

Agnon's writing often used words and phrases that differed from what would become established modern Hebrew. His distinct language is based on traditional Jewish sources, such as the books of Moses and the Prophets, Midrashic literature, the Mishnah, and the rabbinic legends. Some examples include:

• bet kahava for modern bet kafe (coffee house / café)
• batei yadayim (lit. "hand-houses") for modern kfafot (gloves)
• yatzta (יצתה) rather than the modern conjugation yatz'a (יצאה) ("she went out")

Bar-Ilan University has made a computerized concordance of his works in order to study his language.

Works

The wellspring of Agnon's works is Judaism in all of its aspects, such as customs, faith, and language. Agnon gives them his own touch and a unique commentary. They are all expressed in his works, which are unique in their content and language.

Agnon was also influenced by German literature and culture specifically and European literature in general, which he read in German translation. The budding Hebrew literature also influenced his works. Some of his protagonists are Zionists of the Second Aliyah.

The communities he passed through in his life are reflected in his works:

• Galicia: in the books The Bridal Canopy, A City and the Fullness Thereof, and A Guest for the Night.
• Germany: in the stories "Fernheim", "Thus Far", and "Between Two Cities".
• Jaffa: in the stories "Oath of Allegiance", "Yesteryear", and "The Dune".
• Jerusalem: "Prayer", "Yesteryear", "Ido ve-Inam", and "Shira".

Agnon's substantial selection of stories have been published in various collections. Some of his works, such as The Bridal Canopy, And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight, and The Doctor and His Ex-Wife, have been adapted for theater and performed in Israeli theaters. Some of them have aired on Israeli television.

Writings published during his life

The following stories and passages were first published in various manuscripts, and afterward were collected in eight volumes.

• The Bridal Canopy (1931), an epic describing Galician Judaism at the start of the 19th century.
• Of Such and Of Such, a collection of stories, including "And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight", "Forsaken Wives", and "In the Heart of the Seas".
• At the Handles of the Lock (1923), a collection of love stories, including "In the Prime of Her Life", "A Simple Story", and "The Dune".
• A Guest for the Night (1938), a novel.
• Yesteryear (1945), a novel.
• Near and Apparent, a collection of stories, including "The Two Sages Who Were In Our City", "Between Two Cities", "The Lady and the Peddler", the collection "The Book of Deeds", the satire "Chapters of the National Manual", and "Introduction to the Kaddish: After the Funerals of Those Murdered in the Land of Israel".
• Thus Far, a collection of stories, including "Thus Far", "Prayer", "Oath of Allegiance", "The Garment", "Fernheim", and "Ido ve-Inam".
• The Fire and the Wood, a collection of Hasidic stories.

Anthologies edited

• Days of Awe (1938), a book of customs, interpretations, and legends for the Jewish days of mercy and forgiveness: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the days between.
• Present at Sinai: The Giving of the Law (1959), an anthology for the festival of Shavuot.

Writings published posthumously

• Shira (1971), a novel set in Jerusalem in the 1930s and 1940s.
• A City and the Fullness Thereof (1973), a collection of stories and legends about Buczacz, the town of Agnon's youth.
• In Mr. Lublin's Shop (1974), set in Germany of the First World War.
• Within the Wall (1975), a collection of four stories.
• From Myself to Myself (1976), a collection of essays and speeches.
• Introductions (1977), stories.
• Book, Writer and Story (1978), stories about writers and books from the Jewish sources.
• The Beams of Our House (1979), two stories, the first about a Jewish family in Galicia, the second about the history of Agnon's family.
• Dear Esther: Letters 1924-1931 (1983), letters from Agnon to his wife.
• A Shroud of Stories (1985).
• The Correspondence between S.Y. Agnon and Z. Schocken (1991), letters between Agnon and his publisher.

In 1977 the Hebrew University published Yiddish Works, a collection of stories and poems that Agnon wrote in Yiddish in the years 1903-1906.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Much of the content of this article comes from "Shmuel Yosef Agnon" in the Hebrew-language Wikipedia. Retrieved January 5, 2005.
• Jewish Agency for Israel. Agnon, Shmuel Yosef. Retrieved January 12, 2005.
• Horst Frenz, ed. Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing Company, 1969. Cited in "Samuel Agnon – Banquet Speech" (nobelprize.org), retrieved January 17, 2005.
• Biography of Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Jewish Agency for Israel)
• Shiri Lev Ari: S.Y. Agnon's relatives: The East Jerusalem Nashashibis (Ha'aretz, July 10, 2006)
• Horst Frenz, ed. Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901-1967. Amsterdam: Elsevier Publishing Company, 1969. Cited in "Samuel Agnon â€" Banquet Speech" (nobelprize.org), retrieved January 17, 2005.

External links

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