Name Uri Gnessin Role Writer | Died 1913, Warsaw, Poland | |
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Uri Nissan Gnessin (1879–1913) was a Russian Jewish writer, generally considered a pioneer in modern Hebrew literature. He is a brother of Menahem Gnessin, a co-founder of the Habima Theatre.
Contents
- Etsel by Uri Nissan GNESSIN Full Audio Book
- Early life
- Literary career and later years
- Published works
- References
Early life
He was born in Starodub, and grew up in the small town of Prochep, Orel province. His father was a rabbi and the head of a yeshiva in Pochep. After attending cheder, Gnessin studied at his father's yeshiva, and there became friends with Yosef Haim Brenner, a fellow student. As a boy he wrote poetry and was interested secular subjects; when he was 15 years old, he and Brenner together produced a literary journal that they distribured to a small circle of friends.
Literary career and later years
Around 1899, when Gnessin was 18 years old, he was invited by Nahum Sokolow to join the editorial board of the Hebrew-language newspaper Ha-Tsefirah, in Warsaw, where he began to publish his poems and stories, as well as literary criticism and translations. His first book, Zilelei ha-Hayyim (The Shadows of Life), a collection of stories and sketches, was published in 1904.
In 1906 he co-founded the Hebrew-language publishing house "Nisyonot" (Attempts), and after moving to London in 1907, he co-edited (with Brenner) Ha'Meorer, a Hebrew periodical.
In the fall of 1907 he immigrated to Palestine; however, his experience there disappointed him, and in 1908 he returned to Russia. In 1913 he died in Warsaw of a heart attack.
Gnessin wrote in a unique style of prose that was notable for its expressionistic language form. Many Israeli literary scholars, such as Dan Miron and Gershon Shaked have written of his work, especially about the short story "BaGanim" (At the Gardens).