Ephraim Kishon (1924-2005) was a satirist, author, playwright, screenwriter, and director whose acutely observant commentaries and critiques of the Israeli establishment made him one of the country’s all-time greatest creative minds. Kishon’s oh-so unique language and linguistic stylings took deep root in modern spoken Hebrew and Israeli culture, as did some of his most iconic characters, from Officer Azulai and Sallah Shabati to Schultheis, Kunstatter, Ervinka, and Ginger key guy – all of whom so perfectly epitomised all that is fine and foul in Israel at the same time – characters that live on to this day onstage, onscreen, and on the streets, long after Kishon’s death.
Born Ferenc Hoffmann in Budapest, Hungary, his writing star was already on the rise in his teens when in 1940, he won the top prize in a high school novella-writing competition. During World War II and the Holocaust, Kishon was sent to a forced labour camp but managed to escape. He returned to Budapest and lived in hiding until the end of the war. In 1948, he completed his Art History course that had been cut short on account of anti-Jewish legislation and started publishing articles in a high-profile weekly satirical magazine in Budapest, under the pseudonym ‘Ferenc Kishont.’
In 1949, he set sail for Israel. Upon disembarking the ship, he was given his Hebrew name ‘Ephraim Kishon,’ by a Jewish Agency officer who took it upon himself to Hebrewfy the name Ferenc Kishont. The newly rechristened Kishon was sent to live in migrant transit camp Shaar HaAliya where he met and befriended scores of Jewish Moroccan immigrants who, later, would inspire his timeless classic film, Sallah. Next, he moved to kibbutz Kfar HaHoresh where he fully immersed himself in learning Hebrew. At the same time, he also began writing for Hungarian-language Israeli paper, Új Kelet.
By 1951, Kishon already had his own satirical column in the (long-defunct) daily publication, Davar. Amongst his pieces was Legend of a Tel Aviv Canal, a story that contained the core plotline of what would become his future film, The Big Dig (aka Blaumlich Canal). That same year also marked Kishon’s authorial debut with the publication of The Pestering Immigrant. In 1952 he started writing a satirical column for daily tabloid paper Maariv, titled ‘Chad Gadya.’ The column would remain a permanent fixture of the paper for the next 30 years.
In 1953, Kishon wrote his first-ever play, His Reputation Precedes Him (‘shemo holekh lefanav’). The play enjoyed a successful run at Habima National Theatre. He spent the next few decades writing and directing a string of successful plays including Black on White, Oh, Oh Juliet, and Sallah Shabati with Habima; The Ketubah with The Ohel (HaOhel) Theatre, and Take the Plug Out at the Cameri Theatre. Kishon also wrote a number of highly successful variety shows including Not a Word to Morgenstein for folk rockers The Green Onion (‘Batzal Yarok’), Him and Her for husband-and-wife duo Arik Lavie and Shoshana ‘Shoshik’ Shani, and multiple sketches for iconic comedy trio, The Pale Tracker (‘Hagashash HaHiver’) – including the timeless classics Offside Story and The Garage.
Kishon also wrote countless books, many of which were translated to multiple languages, and enjoyed tremendous success both domestically and internationally. A frequent collaborator on many of his published works was Kishon’s long-time friend, cartoonist ‘Dosh’ (Kariel Gardosh). Highlights of his published literary works include Thousand of Gadia and Gadia (1954), It All Depends (1961), One Last Night: Humoresques (‘be-echad ha-emeshim’) (1962), So Sorry We Won (1967), Department of Ephraim Kishon (1972), Partachia my Love (1974), Family Book (1980), Jonathan Voyage (1982), Satire Book I (1989), 58 Sketches (1995), and State Protocol (1999).
In film, Kishon only has five directorial feature credits to his name, although four of those are widely seen as treasured staples of Israeli culture. His films defined popular cinema in Israel which, overtime, would evolve into the genre of ‘Bourekas Films’ (‘lowbrow’ working class comedies and melodramas). The films were all box office juggernauts, in addition to winning wide acclaim amongst critics in Israel and around the world.
