Jacqueline Kahanoff Figurine

Jacqueline Kahanoff (1917-1979) | Celebrated essayist, literature critic and journalist. Born in Egypt as Jacqueline Shochat to a Jewish immigrant couple from Tunisia and Iraq, she grew up in a multicultural atmosphere. In 1937, she visited Eretz Israel for the first time and was appalled by what she interpreted as provincial nationalism, as opposed to the pluralistic environment where she was educated. From 1941 to 1946 she lived in New York, studied literature and journalism at Columbia University, when she began to publish her stories and became known. After several years in Egypt and Paris, she decided in 1954 to immigrate to Eretz Israel, soon achieving an influential voice in the media. She dared to make a new and critical voice contrasting the kibbutz-Ashkenazi elite. Acknowledge the ancient and profound connection between Jews and Arabs she called for a new and proud model of Levantinism and merging of cultures. Her articles often dealt with the connection between East and West, and was known as a feminist writer who took pride in her Egyptian roots, without ignoring the oppression of women in her homeland. Died at 62 of cancer.