About Yael Renan
Lived 1947 – 2020 (aged 73). Yael Renan was an Israeli translator, literary theorist and literary scholar.
Yael Renan (; 17 January 1947 – 2 August 2020) was an Israeli writer and translator.
Biography Renan was born and grew up in Tel Aviv and attended Tel Aviv University, where she received a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a doctorate in English literature in 1978, for her work on "Figurative Language in the Prose of Modernism". She was a senior lecturer in the Department of English Literature at Tel Aviv University until her retirement in 2007 and also volunteered in the Department of Women's Studies.
The highlight of her work as a translator was the translation of James Joyce's book, Ulysses, a book of about 900 pages. Renan began translating at the age of 25 and finished translating the book after 12 years in 1985.
Renan was active in the Kav LaOved association, a non-profit association acting to protect the rights of disadvantaged workers.
She died on 2 August 2020 in Tel Aviv.
Awards Renan received the Tchernichovsky Prize for Translation in 1994.
Literary works Among Renan's notable works are the following (in Hebrew): Laughter in the Dark - A Look at Modern Literature, Adam Publishing, Tel Aviv, 1986 Laughing at God, Modan Publishing, Tel Aviv, 1996 ( with Eli Tammuz) Goddesses and Heroes - Myths on the Boundaries of Power, published by Am Oved, Tel Aviv, 2001 The Poisoned Apple - The Heroine in European Legends, United Kibbutz Publishing, Bnei Brak, 2007 Imagination and the Mind, New World Publishing, Tel Aviv, 2014
Translations Notable authors and works translated into Hebrew by Renan include the following:
Jean-Paul Sartre, The Transcendence of the Ego James Joyce, Ulysses Samuel Beckett, Endgame Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms
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Important facts
People in Yael Renan's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
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Frequently asked questions
Who was Yael Renan?
Israeli writer and translator (1947–2020)
When was Yael Renan born?
Yael Renan was born on 17 January 1947 in Tel Aviv.
When did Yael Renan die?
Yael Renan died on 2 August 2020 in Tel Aviv.
What was Yael Renan's occupation?
Yael Renan was a translator, literary theorist and literary scholar.
What nationality was Yael Renan?
Yael Renan was Israeli.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Yael Renan. https://biography.guide/yael-renan/
MLA: "Yael Renan." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/yael-renan/.
Chicago: "Yael Renan." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/yael-renan/.
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