Amasai Levin

Who was Amasai Levin?

Amasai Levin was an Israeli poet and translator. Levin is perhaps best known for his lyrics for Badad, a popular Hebrew song, famous for its performance by Zohar Argov and the subject of many subsequent renditions.

A prolific and praised translator of fiction, science, television and film, Levin was responsible for the Hebrew translations of some modern classics, such as

Norman Mailer's The Deer Park and The Executioner's Song;

Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny and War and Remembrance;

John le Carré's A Small Town in Germany, A Perfect Spy, and The Russia House.

Levine also translated several landmark works in the social sciences, including B. F. Skinner’s About Behaviorism and Beyond Freedom and Dignity; Leonard Broom and Philip Selznick’s Sociology and Richard Lazarus’s Adjustment and Personality. Levin's first name, Amasai, is a rare name of biblical origins. He also published under the pseudonyms Amos Yahav and Avisar Levin.