Poet T. Carmi Dead at 68

The Israeli poet T. Carmi died Sunday night of cancer at his home in Jerusalem. He was 68 years old.

He was know for his collections of poetry and translations of classics, including plays by William Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht and Sophocles.

Carmi was born Carmi Charney in New York in 1925, in a home where Hebrew was the spoken language. He lived in Palestine as a child.

Returning to New York with his family, Carmi studied at Yeshiva University in New York. In 1946, he volunteered to work with refugee children in France. He settled in Israel a year later and fought in the War of Independence as an air force officer.

Carmi edited the “Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse” and the arts magazine Ariel and received the Bialik Prize for poetry four years ago.

He also was an editor of the literary journal Massa and was a member of the repertory committee of Habimah, the Israeli state theater.

In addition, he edited children’s books for Am Oved publishing house.

His first book of poetry, “Mum Ve-Halom” (Blemish and Dream), was published in 1950.

One of Carmi’s most famous poem is “There Are No Black Flowers,” about his experiences in the children’s refugee house in France.