Haim Gouri

Haim Gouri (Hebrew: חיים גורי; né Gurfinkel; 9 October 1923 – 31 January 2018) was an Israeli poet, novelist, journalist, and documentary filmmaker. He was awarded the Israel Prize for poetry in 1988 and was the recipient of several other prizes of national distinction.

Haim Gurfinkel (later Gouri) was born in Tel Aviv to Gila and the politician Yisrael. After studying at the Kadoorie Agricultural High School, he joined the Palmach and completed a commander's course. He participated in the bombing of a British radar station being used to track Aliyah Bet ships carrying illegal Jewish immigrants to Palestine. In 1947 he was sent to Hungary to bring Holocaust survivors to Mandate Palestine. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War he was a deputy company commander in the Palmach's Negev Brigade.

Gouri studied literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Sorbonne in Paris. As a journalist he worked for LaMerhav and later, Davar. He achieved fame with his coverage of the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann.

Gouri's first published poem, Day Voyage, appeared in Mishmar, edited by Abraham Shlonsky, in 1945. His first complete volume of poetry, Flowers of Fire, was published in 1949 following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Some poems that Gouri wrote became an inseparable part of the Israeli ethos. One of his most famous poems, "Behold, here our bodies lie" (Hebrew: הנה מוטלות גופותינו), was written in the time of Israel's war for independence (1948–1949) to commemorate the 35 soldiers who were killed on their way to the besieged Gush Etzion (Hebrew: גוש עציון) settlements. Gouri also wrote a few famous popular songs such as "The Comradeship" (Hebrew: הרעות) that became representative of Israel's war for independence.

Gouri lived with his wife, Aliza, in Jerusalem. Gouri died on 31 January 2018, at the age of 94.