Werses, Samuel

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WERSES, SAMUEL

WERSES, SAMUEL , (1915– ), Hebrew literature scholar and educator. Born in Vilna, Poland, Werses emigrated to Palestine in 1936, where he studied Hebrew literature, completing his doctorate in 1947. From 1953 until his retirement in 1983, he was member of the Hebrew literature department of the Hebrew University. He was awarded the Israel Prize in 1989 for research in Hebrew literature. His research focused on Haskalah and modern Hebrew literature, with an emphasis on studying literary genre as they developed and their links to world literature. Among his works are Mi-Mendele ad Hazaz ("From Mendele to Hazaz," 1982) and Haskalah ve-Shabta'ut ("Haskalah and Shabbateanism," 1988), a study of trends and forms in the literature of the Haskalah (1990), a book on Agnon (2000), and Mi-Lashon el Lashon: Yeẓirot ve-Gilgulehen be-Sifruteinu (1996). Together with Ch. Shmeruk, he edited a book on the cultural life of the Jews in Poland between the two World Wars (Bein Shetei Milḥemot Olam, 1997). A bibliography of his works was prepared by R. Schenfeld in 2002.

[Fern Lee Seckbach]