Israeli Poet Israel Pincas, Israel Prize Winner, Dies at 91

Israel Pincas, the acclaimed Israeli poet and recipient of the 2005 Israel Prize, passed away on Sunday at the age of 91. Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1935, Pincas immigrated to Israel in 1944 during World War II. He grew up in the Ben Shemen Youth Village and later settled in Tel Aviv, where he lived for the rest of his life. His older brother, Yitzhak, was killed in the 1948 War of Independence during the battle for Ashdod.

Throughout his extensive career, Pincas translated books and plays, edited publications for Am Oved and Sifriat Poalim, managed two art galleries in Tel Aviv, and wrote about Israeli art in the press. From the 1980s, he also served as an art consultant and expert on 20th-century art, following studies in literature and art in London and Paris. His poetry was noted for its restraint, refinement, and existential themes, often engaging in a cultural dialogue with Mediterranean geography and classical artistic traditions.

Pincas’s work was deeply influenced by world literature and the arts, referencing Greek and Roman mythology, Homer, Ovid, Petrarch, Shakespeare, Bruegel, Cézanne, Haydn, and Mozart. His first poetry collection, "Fourteen Poems," was published in 1961, followed by several others including "Dinner in Ferrara and Other Poems," "To the Equator," "Inside the House," "Lecture on Time," and "Genealogy." His poems have been translated into multiple languages and featured in anthologies worldwide.

He is survived by his two daughters, Daniela and Michal. The Israel Prize committee praised his poetry for its cultural integration and meaningful dialogue with the past and the arts, highlighting his significant contribution to Israeli literature.