TCHERNICHOWSKY, SAUL (GUTMANOVICH)

born Aug. 20, 1875, Crimea, Ukraine, Russian Empire died Oct. 13, 1943, Jerusalem Tchernichowsky also spelled Chernikhovsky prolific Hebrew poet, whose poetry, in strongly biblical language, dealt with Russia, Germany, and Palestine and with the themes of love and beauty. In 1922 Tchernichowsky left the Ukraine, and, after wanderings that took him to the United States in 192829, he settled in Palestine in 1931 and became a school physician at Tel Aviv. His production of written material (chiefly poetry), from the age of 14 until a month before his death, was immense. It included sonnet cycles, short stories, idylls of Jewish village life in Russia, and translations of the Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer, William Shakespeare, Molire, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Tchernichowsky's poetry is deeply romantic and suffused with a love of Greek culture; the conflict between this and Judaism gave rise to what some consider to be his finest work.