Ephraim Kishon

{{Audio|He-Efraim_Kishon.ogg|Ephraim Kishon}} (Hebrew:????? ?????) (August 23, 1924 – January 29, 2005) was an Israeli satirist, dramatist, screenwriter, and film director.

Early biography

Born into a middle-class Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary, as Ferenc Hoffmann, he studied sculpture and painting, and then began publishing humourous essays and writing for the stage. He was imprisoned by the Nazis in World War II in several concentration camps. At one camp his chess talent helped him survive as the camp commandant was looking for an opponent. In another camp the Germans lined up the inmates shooting every tenth person, passing him by. He later wrote in his book The Scapegoat, "They made a mistake—they left one satirist alive." He managed to escape while being transported to the Sobibor death camp in Poland, and hid the remainder of the war disguised as "Stanko Andras", a Slovakian laborer. After 1945 he changed his surname from Hoffmann to Kishont and returned to Hungary to study art and publish humorous plays. He emigrated to Israel in 1949 to escape the Communist regime, and an immigration officer gave him the name Ephraim Kishon.

Related Topics:
Budapest - Hungary - Sculpture - Painting - Nazis - World War II - Chess - Sobibor - Poland - Emigrated - 1949 - Communist

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Acquiring a mastery of Hebrew with remarkable speed, he started a regular satirical column in the easy-Hebrew daily, Omer, after only two years in the country. From 1952, he wrote the column "Had Gadya" in the daily Ma'ariv. Devoted largely to political and social satire but including essays of pure humour, it became one of the most popular columns in the country. His extraordinary inventiveness, both in the use of language and the creation of character, was applied also to the writing of innumerable sketches for theatrical revues.

Related Topics:
Hebrew - 1952 - Ma'ariv - Humour

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~