Yoram Kaniuk (Hebrew: יורם קניוק‎) (May 2, 1930 – June 8, 2013) was an Israeli writer, painter, journalist, and theater critic.

Biography

Yoram Kaniuk was born in Tel Aviv. His father, Moshe Kaniuk, born in Ternopil, Galicia (Central Europe), was the first curator of Tel Aviv Museum of Art. His grandfather was a Hebrew teacher who wrote his own textbooks. Kaniuk's mother, born in Odessa, was also a teacher. Her family immigrated to Palestine in 1909, the year Tel Aviv was founded, and settled in Neve Tzedek.[1]

At the age of 17, Kaniuk joined the Palmach. In 1948, during the War of Independence, he was shot in the legs by an Englishman in a kaffiyeh. He was treated at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

Kaniuk married Miranda, a Christian woman.

Legal status as Jew

In May 2011, Kaniuk petitioned the Israeli Interior Ministry to change his religion status from "Jewish" to "no religion." He cited the fact that his child and infant grandson, because they are descended from a mixed marriage, are legally of no religion, and his desire not to belong to a "Jewish Iran" or "what is today called the religion of Israel." In October 2011, a district court judge approved his petition, meaning that Kaniuk is now considered a Jew by nationality, but not by religion. Hundreds of other Israelis intend to do the same; a new verb, lehitkaniuk (to Kaniuk oneself) was coined to refer to this process.

Literary career

Kaniuk has published 17 novels, a memoir, seven collections of short stories, two books of essays and five books for children and youth. His books have been published in 25 languages and he has won numerous literary prizes. An international conference dedicated to the works of Kaniuk was held at Cambridge University in March 2006.

Literary themes and style

'Eagles' is a war story that attacks the subject of death in Israeli culture from a unique angle. His work has been described as "existential writing that deviates from the Israeli consensus" and difficult to categorize. He is known for the dark, somewhat bizarre humor in his writing. The late writers Anthony Burgess and Kurt Vonnegut have influenced his unsettling style of political satire. He was widely rejected by the Israeli mainstream until the 21st century, where many young readers found his unique take on the sensitive Israeli social climate refreshing.

Awards and honours

Kaniuk has won numerous literary prizes, among them are the following:

• In 1980, the Ze`ev Prize for Children's literature.
• In 1997, the Prix des Droits de l'Homme (France).
• In 1998, the President's Prize.
• In 1999, the Bialik Prize for literature (co-recipient with Aharon Almog and Nurit Zarchi).
• In 2000, the Prix Mediterranee Etranger for Commander of the Exodus.
• In 2005, the Book Publishers Association's Gold Book Prize.
• In 2006, the Newman Prize.
• In 2011, the Sapir Prize for Literature for 1948.

Published works

• The Acrophile (1960)
• Himmo, King of Jerusalem (1968)
• Adam Resurrected (novel, 1971)
• Rockinghorse (1977) ISBN 0-06-012245-5
• The Story of Aunt Shlomzion the Great (1978) ISBN 0-06-012259-5
• Confessions of a Good Arab: a Novel (1984) ISBN 0-8076-1210-3
• His Daughter (1987) ISBN 0-8076-1215-4
• Commander of the Exodus (1999) ISBN 0-8021-1664-7
• The House Where Cockroaches Live to a Ripe Old Age (2001) ISBN 81-7655-041-8
• The Last Jew (novel, 2006) ISBN 0-8021-1811-9
• Eagles (novella)
• Villany (novella)
• Between Life and Death (novel)
• 1948 (autobiographic novel)