Kimḥi, Dov
KIMḤI, DOV
KIMḤI, DOV (originally Meller, Berish ; 1889–1961), Hebrew author, translator, and editor. Born in Jaslo, Galicia, Kimḥi became an ardent Zionist in his youth and immigrated to Palestine in 1908. He settled in Jerusalem, and from 1912 until his retirement taught at the Reḥaviah Gymnasium, Jerusalem. He made his literary debut in the journal Ha-Miẓpeh in 1905, under his original name Berish Meller. After his arrival in Jerusalem he began writing novels, short stories, and essays, and also engaged extensively in translation work. His fiction covers a wide range of settings from his native Galicia, through Western Europe, to Ereẓ Israel. In addition to several works on the Bible, two collections of essays, and numerous translations, he published anthologies of world literature and of Israel stories. His other works include Ma'barot (1923); Sefer ha-Kilyonot (1926); Ha-Kufsah ha-Keḥullah (1926); Emesh (1927); and Ẓiyyurim me-Olam Nishkaḥ (1943). His novel Beit Ḥefeẓ (1951), a "European novel" (Menahem Peri) of love intrigues and betrayals set against the background of Jerusalem on the eve of World War i, gained much attention upon its "rediscovery" and publication by Peri in 1993.
bibliography:
M. Rabinson, Deyokena'ot mi-Soferei ha-Dor (1932), 49–52; M. Carmon, Dor le-Dor (1956), 150–3; Kressel, Leksikon, 2 (1967), 774–6. add. bibliography: G. Shaked, Ha-Mesapper Dov Kimhi, in: Yerushalayim, 9–10 (1975), 239–250; J. Amoial, in: Beit Ḥefeẓ (1993), 225–236; A. Lipsker, " Ẓamarot shel Hazayah," in: Bikkoret u-Farshanut, 29 (1993), 121–142; I. Rikin, in: Maariv (March 19, 1993); B. Gur, in: Haaretz (March 19, 1993); N. Govrin, " Mi-Ganenet Yerushalmit le-Eshet ha-Olam ha-Gadol" (on Kimhi's Al Shivah Yamim), in: Yerushalayim, 20–21 (2004), 241–257.
[Getzel Kressel (2nd ed.)]