Yemima Avidar-Tchernovitz

Who was Yemima Avidar-Tchernovitz?

Yemima Avidar-Tchernovitz was an Israeli author whose works became classics of modern Hebrew children’s literature. Born in Vilna, Lithuania in 1909, she arrived in Palestine in 1921, at the age of 12.

A teacher and school principal, she also worked in children's radio with Kol Yerushalayim, with the Nursery School Teachers’ Theater and on the editorial board of Dvar HaPo’elet. Her books for children are foundational in the sippurei havurah genre and were among the earliest based on the ordinary lives of children. In addition to her original works, she translated other works into Hebrew.

Among her honors are the Israel Prize for children's literature and the Yakir Yerushalaim award. The readers of Israeli news website Ynet voted her 174th on its list of 200 Greatest Israelis in 2005.