Tuvya Ruebner

Tuvya Ruebner (30 January 1924 - 29 July 2019) was an Israeli poet who wrote in Hebrew and German, and he also translated poems - from Hebrew into German and from German into Hebrew.

In addition, he was the editor of numerous literary books, a scholar, a teacher, and a photographer.

Ruebner was Emeritus Professor of German and Comparative Literature at Haifa University and Oranim College.

He attended the local school until 1939 when Slovakia, which had become a puppet state of Nazi Germany, banished Jewish pupils from schools.

Consequently, Ruebner left school at the age of 15, thus - ending his formal education in the ninth grade.

Acquiring coveted permission papers, Ruebner was able to leave Slovakia in 1941.

Together with a group of youth, he made his way to Palestine, leaving his parents and sister behind.

He was settled in Kibbutz Merchavia in northern Israel, where he lived for the rest of his life.

His parents, his sister and other relatives were murdered in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in 1942.

In 1944 Ruebner married Ada Klein, also from Slovakia, with whom he had a daughter.

In 1950, Ada was killed in a traffic accident, which also left Ruebner severely injured.

Unable to be involved in agricultural labour, Ruebner was appointed librarian of the kibbutz.

Indeed, she was instrumental in publishing his first Hebrew poem, which appeared in the Davar newspaper in 1950.

Sometime later he met the Israel-born pianist Galila Yisraeli and they married in 1953.

The couple had two sons.

In 1955 he had already won the Anne Frank Prize for poetry.

Many other awards followed - for example, The Theodore Kramer Prize in Austria, and the Israeli Prime Minister's Award for Creative work.

Ruebner's first book of Hebrew poetry was published in 1957, and his first one in German in 1990.

Between 1963 and 1966 the family lived in Switzerland where Ruebner served as Secretary General of the Swiss branch of the Jewish Agency.

On his return in1966, Ruebner began teaching - first at Oranim College, and later at Tel Aviv University as well as at Haifa University.

In 1974 he was appointed Professor of German and Comparative Literature at Haifa University and Oranim College.

In 1983, their youngest son, Moran, disappeared on a trip to Ecuador.

All attempts to find him thus far have failed.

Ruebner retired as Professor Emeritus at Haifa University in 1993.

The recipient of many literary awards in Israel, Germany and Austria, he was awarded the Israel Prize for Poetry in 2008 - the highest accolade the State of Israel bestows.

The jury awarding that prize described Ruebner as "among the most important Hebrew poets", and his poetry as "restrained, polished and intellectual ... nourished by the ancient strata of Hebrew poetry and the best of the tradition of Central European poetry."

Kurt Tobias Ruebner (later Tuyva Ruebner) was born in Pressburg – now Bratislava, in Slovakia.

His parents were German speaking Jews.

All culminated in the award of the Israel Prize of Poetry in 2008.

Ruebner was also a leading translator.

He translated works of Goethe, Friedrich Shlegel and Ludwig Strauss into Hebrew.

He also translated the works of Shmuel Yosef Agnon and other poets into German.

In addition, he engaged in editorial work - editing, among others, the poetry collections of Leah Goldberg.

The Israel Prize Official Website lists all Ruebner's contributions up to 2008.

He died in 2019, aged 95.

Ruebner began writing poetry as an adolescent.

He continued to write in his native German language during his early years in the kibbutz.

While there, he was introduced to learned people such as Werner Kraft and Ludwig Strauss; who helped him a great deal.

He was also introduced to the Israeli poet Leah Goldberg by the influential Avraham Shlonsky.

Goldberg encouraged him to write in Hebrew and became a mentor and a close friend.