World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Yehoshua Bar-Yosef

イェホシュア・バー＝ヨセフ

Yehoshua Bar-Yosef

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1912-05-29 （Safed, Ottoman Empire）
Died
1992-10-07 age 80
Nationality
Israeli
Languages
Hebrew
Religion
Judaism (born Haredi)
Residence History
Safed → Jerusalem (residence/activity)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Novelist, Playwright, Newspaper editor, Journalist
Active Years
1937-1992

Awards

Bialik Prize
1984
Category: フィクション
Organization: Tel Aviv Municipality
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Voice of Passion

1937 Short stories

An early short story collection portraying passions and conflicts within Jewish society.

religion and modernizationindividual vs community

Mother of Daughters

1943 Novel

A novel exploring family and tradition, depicting intergenerational tensions through a mother's perspective.

familytradition

Magic City

1949 Novel

A novel that imaginatively depicts the relationship between a city and its inhabitants against postwar social changes.

citychange

Between Safed and Jerusalem (autobiography)

1972 Autobiography

An autobiography recounting his upbringing and literary career, describing childhood in Safed and later life in Jerusalem.

autobiographyhomeland

Soul Mate

1979 Novella

A novella about interpersonal relationships and inner search; later translated into Italian.

human relationshipsinner conflict
Translations
  • Italian translation (Florence) - Giuntina, 1999

The Fourth Photograph

1980 Novel

A novel dealing with memory and fragments of the past, using photographs symbolically.

memoryphotography

Bibliography

  • The Voice of Passion (stories) - 1937
  • Mother of Daughters - 1943
  • Magic City - 1949
  • On the Threshold - 1953
  • Tabernacle of Peace - 1958
  • Between Safed and Jerusalem - 1972
  • Soul Mate - 1979
  • The Fourth Photograph - 1980
  • Seed of Everlasting Life - 1992

Adaptations

  • Stage plays (numerous performances)

Translations of Works

  • Hissda Goes Up the Mountain - English (World Zionist Organization), 1972
  • Soul Mate - Italian (Giuntina), 1999

Style & Themes

Literary Style
local-color descriptive stylerealism and historical epicautobiographical narrative elements
Recurring Motifs
SafedJerusalemreligion vs secularismfamily and memory

Legacy

Yehoshua Bar-Yosef was an important Israeli writer known for historical epics and detailed portrayals of Jewish society centered on Safed; his autobiographical works from the 1970s onward are also notable. He received the Bialik Prize in 1984.

In Popular Culture

  • Several plays were staged in Israeli theaters

Trivia

  • Born in Safed in 1912 when it was part of the Ottoman Empire
  • Raised in a Haredi Jewish family but later left Orthodox practice
  • Produced novels, short stories, plays and historical epics
  • Received the Bialik Prize in 1984