Background
Gabriel (Yehoshua) Preil was born in Tartu, Livonia, Russian Empire in 1911, but was raised in Krakės, Kovno until his father died. He then moved with his mother to the United States in 1922.
Gabriel (Yehoshua) Preil was born in Tartu, Livonia, Russian Empire in 1911, but was raised in Krakės, Kovno until his father died. He then moved with his mother to the United States in 1922.
He was the last of the Haskala poets. The critic Yael Feldman has done significant work on Preil, focusing on the Yiddish influences in his Hebrew poetry. Preil translated Robert Frost and Walt Whitman into Hebrew.
Though primarily influenced by Yiddish poets of the Inzikh (Introspective) movement, Preil"s influence extends to younger Israeli poets (Dan Pagis nicknamed him "The Duke of New York"), and Israelis were his primary audience.
Preil lived with his mother and step-father in the Bronx, New York, until their deaths. In 1975, he received on honorary Doctorate of Hebrew Letters from Hebrew Union College.
Preil died in Jerusalem on June 5, 1993 while visiting on a book tour. years plucked.