David Shahar

David Shahar was an Israeli writer. He was born in Jerusalem in 1926, to a pious ultra-orthodox Jewish family that had lived in the city for several generations. He studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He was involved with the Irgun Tzvai Leumi and the Canaanite movement, and identified as an Orthodox Jewish, ultranationalist, right-wing writer.

He was best known for his depiction of old Jerusalem in his fiction. The seven-volumed historical saga Palace of Broken Vessels is recognized by some as his masterpiece. Regarded as an Israeli version of Proust by French critics, he won the Prix Medicis Etranger and the title of Commander in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He also won Israeli literary awards such as the Bialik Prize, the Agnon Prize and the Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works.

He had two children with Shulamith Weinstock. He died in Paris in 1997.[1]