Ephraim Kishon, Leading Israeli Satirist, Dies at 80 in Switzerland

[Tsiyu]

By Mark Lavie Associated Press Writer
Published: Jan 30, 2005




JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel on Sunday mourned the passing of its premier satirist, Ephraim Kishon, whose biting wit shaped the national agenda of the formative years of the Jewish state and kept people laughing at the same time.
Kishon, who apparently suffered a heart attack, died in the shower at his home in Switzerland, his son, Rafi, said. He was 80.

It was a swift and unexpected end to the life of an artist whose influence went beyond the large numbers of people who read his books and newspaper column or watched the skits, plays and movies he wrote.

Kishon, who had mixed feelings toward Israel late in life, also gained widespread popularity in Europe, and he often felt better appreciated there than in his adopted home of Israel, target of his sharpest barbs.

He helped set the tone of national discourse by drawing attention to social problems facing the nation in a way people could relate to - through laughter.

Paramount was his 1964 play "Salah Shabati," later made into a movie, lampooning Israeli society for making life hard for successive waves of new immigrants. In one telling scene, immigrants emerge from the sea, literally as in a wave, to be vilified by "veteran" Israelis already on the shore.

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