Zoya Semenduev
Zoya Yunoevna Semenduev (Russian: Зоя Юноевна Семендуева; Hebrew: זויה סמנדואב; born 20 October 1929 – 9 April 2020) was a Soviet and an Israeli poet.[1] She wrote in a language of the Mountain Jew (Juhuri). She was a member of Dagestan Writers' Union.
Zoya Yunoevna Semenduev | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 20, 1929 Derbent, Dagestan ASSR, USSR |
| Died | April 9, 2020 (aged 90) Netanya, Israel |
| Occupation | poet |
| Genre | poetry |
Biography
She was born in Derbent, in the Republic of Dagestan ASSR, USSR. She studied in Makhachkala. In 1950 in Makhachkala, she started to work as an editor for a company "Dagknigoizdat."[2] Zoya Semenduev was constantly in a creative environment, she once decided to try her hand at poetry. Her first experiments were approved by Mountain Jews (Juhuri) poets Hizgil Avshalumov and Sergey Izgiyaev.[3]
The first publication took place in 1960 on the pages of the almanac (Juhuri: "Ватан Советиму") - "Soviet Motherland", published in the Mountain Jewish language. The first collection (Juhuri: "Войгей дуьл") - "Command of the heart" was published in 1967, and before her repatriation to Israel, Zoya Semenduev published 10 collections of poetry. She wrote about her people, about love, friendship, about war and peace.
Composers Khizgil Khanukaev and Yuno Avshalumov wrote songs to the verses of Zoya Semenduev.[3]
The poetess's works were published in Moscow literary magazines. Two of her collections were released in Russian - "The Winner People" and "Song, Dream and Love."
In December 1992, Zoya Semenduev immigrated to Israel. In Israel, her poems were published in the collection (Juhuri: "Говлеи") - "Deliverance", and in 1998 she released a new collection of poems "At the Obelisk", which included works in Juhuri and translations of her poems into Russian. In 2007, the book (Juhuri: "Духдер эн дуь бебе") "Daughter of two fathers"[4] was published, which includes the play of the same name and fairy tales. Zoya Semenduev was also published in the Israeli literary and journalistic almanac (Juhuri: "Мирвори") - "Pearls".
Since 1999, Zoya Semenduev was a member of the Union of Writers - Natives of the Caucasus (Israel).[2]
Since 2008, Zoya Semenduev and her husband have been participating in the project of translating the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible) into Juhuri. They edit and proofread text. Zoya Semenduev and her husband's knowledge of Juhuri and her previous experience in publishing contributed to the implementation of the project.
Zoya Semenduev lived in Kfar Yona. She passed away on April 9, 2020 in Netanya, Israel.[5]