Tchernichowsky, Shaul (1875-1943)

Hebrew as a living, spoken language, was only beginning to develop in the 19th century, and most of Tchernichowsky's contemporaries relied on archaic biblical vocabulary and form as models for their literary work. But Tchernichowsky used modern poetic forms to describe familiar subjects, often emulating the style of the Romantic poets.

Born in the village of Mikhailovka, Russia, Tchernichowsky attended a Hebrew school and later a Russian school. Thus he received a background both in Jewish and Zionist thought and in secular subjects. He was especially interested in languages and later he began translating classical works (i.e., by Shakespeare, Homer, Longfellow and others) into Hebrew. He published his first two Hebrew poems in 1892, and his first book of verse, Hezyonot u-Manginot (Visions and Melodies) in 1898. These early works are mostly sensuous descriptions of nature, love, and beauty.

Tchernichowsky later studied medicine in Heidelberg and Lausanne, but on his return to Russia, found it difficult to obtain a permanent position as a doctor because he was Jewish. After World War I, he moved to Germany and in 1931 was commissioned to edit a medical textbook in Palestine, where he lived until his death.

The poetry of Tchernichowsky's later years reflects the trying times in which he lived. In some he reverted to describing the idyllic life of his childhood and in other poems he spoke bitterly of the Jewish struggle for survival. His works added a new dimension to contemporary Hebrew poetry.

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