Gaponov, Boris

Boris (Dov) Gaponov ( February 20, 1934 , Evpatoria - July 25, 1972 , Ramat Gan ) - Hebrew lexicographer, translator. He translated Shota Rustaveli ’s poem “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” into Hebrew . Born in the city of Evpatoria, but during the Second World War , since 1941 , after the evacuation, the family lived in the city of Kutaisi . His grandfather was a rabbi, and from childhood he taught little Boris Hebrew. In 1953, he graduated from high school number 9 from Kutaisk. From 1956, he studied Persian at the Institute of Oriental Languages ​​at Moscow University, but due to lack of funds, he was forced to leave school and return to Kutaisi, where he worked in newspapers. Since the 1960s, he has been engaged in translation activities from Russian and Georgian into Hebrew.

Monument to Boris Gaponov in Kutaisi

In 1969, his translation of "The Knight in Tiger Skin" was published in Israel. The following year he was awarded the Sh. Chernikhovsky Prize for him.

In 1971 , he left for Israel. In the same year, he published a translation of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov ’s novel “Hero of Our Time”, which also earned high praise.

Boris Gaponov worked for 15 years on a Hebrew phraseological dictionary. He died in Raman-Ghana in 1972, after a serious and prolonged illness.