Yehuda Burla (
Hebrew: יהודה בורלא; born 18 September 1886, died 7 November 1969) was an Israeli author.
Biography
Burla was born in 1886 in
Jerusalem, then part of the
Ottoman Empire, to a
Sephardi Jewish family with rabbinical roots, originating from
Izmir.[1] As a child, he lived in the
Ezrat Yisrael neighborhood near the corner of
Jaffa Road and
King George Street.[2] Until the age of 18, he had a religious education, studying at
yeshiva and
beth midrash. After graduating from the "Ezra" teachers seminary in Jerusalem, he began working, in both a teaching and administrative capacity, in various schools affiliated to the
Zionist Organization. During
World War I, Burla served in the Turkish army as an interpreter, and following the war, he taught in the Hebrew school in
Damascus, where he lived for five years.[1] He continued teaching until 1944, when he started working in the public sector and was at one stage Head of the Arab Department of the
Histadrut. His children were
Oded Burla, a writer, poet and artist,
Yair Burla, a writer and translator,
Ofra Adar Burla, a writer and translator, and Zuria Ben Nun.
Awards
Burla was twice awarded the
Bialik Prize for literature, in 1939 and 1954.[3]