Shlomo Zemach

Zemach was born in 1886 in Płońsk, Poland, then part of the Russian Empire, and was a descendant of Rabbi Avraham Gombiner (known as the "Magen Avraham") and his descendant, Rabbi Zvi Hirsch HaLevi of Plonsk (known as the "Plant (Zemach) of Avraham", from where Zemach's surname originates). His family was the wealthiest in Płońsk.[1] He was a childhood friend of David Ben-Gurion. Zemach received a traditional Jewish education at cheder and beit midrash. In 1900, at the age of 14, Ben-Gurion and Zemach founded a Zionist youth association in Płońsk, under the name Ezra Association, whose members spoke only Hebrew.

In 1904, Zemach was the first Zionist to emigrate from Płońsk to Ottoman Palestine using 300 rubles his father had entrusted him to take to the bank.[2][3] He worked as an agricultural worker for five years. In 1905, he was among the founders of the Hapoel Hatzair Zionist organisation. In 1906 he returned to Płońsk to make peace with his family and in early September travelled back to Palestine with Ben Gurion, Rachel Nelkin and her mother Shoshana.[4]

Whilst in Rehovot in 1908 he met a secretly married Hemda Polansky. She was from a wealthy family. They moved to Jerusalem to an apartment in Jerusalem owned by her brothers. They held literary salons and Ben Gurion was a regular visitor. In spring of 1911 they returned to Płońsk and divorced.[5] Zemach then studied agriculture, literature and philosophy in France. In 1914, he qualified as an agricultural engineer, and went to visit his parents' home in Płońsk, where he was caught up in the outbreak of the First World War. He was engaged in literary work in Warsaw and later on in Odessa. In 1921, he returned to then British-administered Palestine. He was employed as a teacher at the Mikveh Israel agricultural school and, in 1933, he was the principal founder of the Kadoorie Agricultural High School and served as its first headmaster.

He wrote a number of books and articles on agriculture. He was also a literary critic and edited the literary journal Maazanim.

• In 1944, Zemach was awarded the Bialik Prize for Literature, jointly with Yehuda Karni.[6]
• In 1955, he was awarded the Brenner Prize for Literature, jointly with Yeshuron Keshet.[7]
• In 1965, he was awarded the Israel Prize, in literature.[8]

• Elijah Margaret (Roman), Warsaw: Jewish Press, 1921.
• First year, published by Am Oved, 1952.
• Stories from the Life of the Land, published by Rubin Mass Press, 1939.
• Essay and Criticism, published by Dvir, 1954.

• Thanks to a Friend from Plonsk, by Arieh (Buda) Bodenheimer, 2010. Tells the story of Zemach, including his relationship with Ben-Gurion.[9]

• List of Israel Prize recipients
• List of Bialik Prize recipients

• Nurit Govrin (29 May 2006). "שתי פרדות: דוד בן-גוריון ושלמה צמח" [Two Mules: David Ben-Gurion and Shlomo Zemach]. Haaretz. Describes the relationship of friendship/rivalry between Ben-Gurion and Zemach from their childhood together in Plonsk continuing throughout their lives; analyzes Zemach's story "Razallah and Atarah" (1930) about two mules, and believed this to be an allegory of the writer's relationship with Ben-Gurion.