history. He spent the rest of his life living in Haifa, and died there in 1949. Literary works "He had begun his career writing on themes of Arabic literary production, both in Arabic and Hebrew. The early essays that still exist include contributions on Jurji Zaydan historical fiction, various tracts on Arab poetry, and an essay on the origins of modern Arab theatre. The Jerusalem Municipal Archives also include correspondence in Arabic with a number of his colleagues, including his fellow Sephardic writer Yehuda Burla, but apparently none of his Arabic writings are available in print The total volume of Shami's works was limited, mostly short stories. Regardless, some critics held him to be "one of the most notable modern Hebrew Sephardic writers." His best known work is the short novella—Vengeance of the Fathers. Six of this short stories and the novella were published posthumously as Shami's stories in Hebrew—Sipurey Shami, in English (2000), and in French. Critical Perspectives The modern Hebrew critic Gershon Shaked wrote that Vengeance of the Fathers, published in 1928, was one of the most important works in modern Hebrew literature. [8] Anton Shammas the Palestinian writer and critic, wrote—"Shami brought into the scene of modern Hebrew literature some seventy years ago, a local Palestinian validity that hasn't been matched, or challenged, since Vengeance of the Fathers is the only novel in modern Hebrew literature whose characters, landscapes and narrative voice are all Palestinian."<ref>Hebron Stories by Yitzhaq Shami, edited by Moseh Lazar and Joseph Zernik, introduced by Arnolde Band, Labyrinthos, Lancaster 2000</ref> Merle Rubin, in the Los Angeles Times Book Review described it as "Luminous tales from a bygone middle east". Issa Boullata, in Al Jadid described the works as evidence of co-existence that vanished. Jerold Auerbach, Professor Emeritus of History and author of Hebron Jews: Memory and Conflict in the Land of Israel, praises Shami's book Hebron Stories'' as "evocative glimpses of Hebron at the turn of the twentieth century." In 2004 Shami was recognized by the Palestinian Academic Society as one of the important Palestinian writers. With that—he assumed a unique position, as a shared cultural asset of both Israelis and Palestinians. References External links Hannan Ever, "Yitzhak Shami: Ethnicity as an Unresolved Conflict", Shofar. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature Yitzhaq Shami page on Hebrew Wikipedia (contains more details) Hebron Stories on Amazon.com Video of Yedidyah