{{Short description|Israeli poet, songwriter, playwright (1941-1977)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Tirtza Atar | native_name = תרצה אתר | native_name_lang = Hebrew | image = Meitar Collection (997009453577405171.jpg | caption = Tirtza Atar, musical ''Queen Esther'', 1966 | birth_name = Tirtza Alterman | birth_date = {{birth date|1941|01|27|df=y}} | birth_place = Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine | death_date = {{death date and age|1977|09|08|1941|01|27|df=y}} | death_place = Tel Aviv, Israel | known_for = | occupation = {{hlist|Poet|songwriter|playwright|actress|translator|author}} | father = Nathan Alterman | mother = {{ill|Rachel Marcus (Israeli actress)|lt=Rachel Marcus|he|רחל מרכוס}} }}
'''Tirtza Atar''' ({{langx|he|תרצה אתר}}; birth name: '''Tirtza Alterman'''; 27 January 1941 – 8 September 1977) was an Israeli lyricist, author, singer, theater actress, playwright, and translator. <ref name=ithl>[https://www.ithl.org.il/writer/tirtza-atar/ Tirtza Atar תרצה אתר]</ref><ref>[https://kneller.co.il/tirza-atar/?lang=en Tirza Atar (Estate)]</ref><ref name=osu>[https://library.osu.edu/projects/hebrew-lexicon/00847.php תרצה אתר (1941–1977)]</ref>
Atar was her pen name, an abbreviation of her maiden surname, Alterman.
== Biography == Tirza Atar was born in Tel Aviv, the daughter of the renowned poet Nathan Alterman and the theater actress {{ill|Rachel Marcus (Israeli actress)|lt=Rachel Marcus|he|רחל מרכוס}}.<ref name="ithl" /> She attended Tel Nordau Elementary School and Ironi D' High School. While in high school, she appeared as an extra in several plays at the Cameri Theatre.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=תרצה אתר אוהבת את ה"עלמה יוליה"ן — חרות 22 נובמבר 1964 — הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים |url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/hrt/1964/11/22/01/article/80 |access-date=2025-12-03 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=he}}</ref>
In October 1958, shortly before her 18th birthday, she enlisted in the IDF and served as a singer in the Armored Corps Entertainment Troupe. As a soloist, she famously performed the song "Elipelet," written by her father, in the troupe's 1959 program, ''Yoter Midai Avak'' (Too Much Dust).{{cn|date=December 2025}}
In 1962, she married Oded Kotler. Following her marriage, she traveled with her husband to New York to study acting.{{cn|date=December 2025}}
In New York she experienced several mental health crises, which prompted her father, Nathan Alterman, to fly there to be with her. In his letters from New York to her mother, Alterman described an improvement in her condition, writing that she was in a good and energetic mood and not under stress. Nevertheless, her condition deteriorated again.<ref name=":2" /> Following a suspected suicide attempt by gas poisoning in her apartment, her father wrote the poem ''"Shir Mishmar"'' ("Guard Song", known by its opening words "Shimri Nafshech", Guard Your Soul) out of concern for her (the song was set to music by Sasha Argov). In response to this, she wrote "Shir HaNishmeret" ("The Guarded Woman's Song", set to music by Naftali Alter), in which she answers each of her father's statements in his poem.<ref>{{Cite web |last=יהודה |first=הדר בן |date=2017-08-20 |title="שִׁמְרִי נַפְשֵׁךְ": הסיפור מאחורי "שיר משמר" שכתב אלתרמן לבתו תרצה אתר |url=https://blog.nli.org.il/shir_mishmar/ |access-date=2025-12-03 |website=הספרנים |language=he-IL}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=,שמרי נפשך, שמרי חייך כתב נתן אלתרמן לבתו — מעריב 9 ספטמבר 1977 — הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים |url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/mar/1977/09/09/01/article/22 |access-date=2025-12-03 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=he}}</ref> [[File:(higher res) נתן אלתרמן עם תרצה אתר.jpg|thumb|Nathan Alterman with his daughter Tirza Atar at the Café Kassit, 1960.]]Less than a year after her arrival to The Big Apple, she returned to Israel with her father.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Zeira |first=Motti |title=בגלל הלילה - תרצה אתר סיפור חיים |date=September 2019 |publisher=Keter Publishing |language=Hebrew |trans-title=Because of the Night - Tirza Atar: A Life Story}}</ref>
=== Career in theatre and writing === Back in Israel, she appeared in the play ''No Man's Land'' by Yehuda Amichai at the {{ill|Zavit Theatre|he|תיאטרון זווית}}. She then took a break from the stage, focusing on writing poetry, stories, and a play, as well as translating plays.
In 1964, she was invited to act in the play ''Three Women in Yellow'' at the Habima Theatre, but after the play was postponed, she was left without a role. A while later, she was unexpectedly asked to appear at Habima in ''Miss Julie'', despite being a beginner actress.<ref name=":0" />
After several years she left the acting world. Atar explained: <blockquote>"Success in the theater is not dependent solely on talent. There are other traits required of an actor, and I didn't have them... I didn't belong to the scene. The entire behavior and lifestyle were foreign to my spirit. I like to go to sleep early and wake up early in the morning... I started thinking, why do I need all this? To get bad reviews, to be tired, not to like the scene, and to want to write."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=השירים היפים והשירים המצליחים — מעריב 3 דצמבר 1970 — הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים |url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/mar/1970/12/03/01/article/159 |access-date=2025-12-03 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=he}}</ref></blockquote>
On March 28, 1970, her father passed away. Shortly after, her poem ''"Pit'om Achshav, Pit'om Hayom"'' (Suddenly Now, Suddenly Today), with music by {{ill|Ya'akov Hollaender|he|יעקב הולנדר}} and performed by Shlomo Artzi, won first place at the 1970 Israel Song Festival.<ref>{{Cite web |title=הזוכים הומאושרים — מעריב 14 מאי 1970 — הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים |url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/mar/1970/05/14/01/article/146 |access-date=2025-12-03 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=he}}</ref>
Atar concentrated on translating plays and writing poetry. By the end of 1970, she had translated about 25 plays.<ref name=":1" /> Her poems were sung by prominent artists, including Chava Alberstein and Dorit Reuveni. In 1973, she was commissioned by the producer and singer {{ill|Benny Amdursky|he|בני אמדורסקי}} to translate eight folk songs from England and the United States for the joint album ''Keshet Be'Anan'' (''Rainbow in the Cloud'') by The Dudaim and {{ill|Susan and Fran|he}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=קשת בענן; דבר 25 מאי 1973, הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים |url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1973/05/25/01/article/203 |access-date=2025-12-03 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=he}}</ref>
During those years, Atar rarely appeared at public events.{{cn|date=December 2025}}
In her short career she translated over 30 plays from English to Hebrew.<ref name="ithl" /> The complete list of her works may be found at her webpage of ''The New Hebrew Literature Lexicon''<ref name="ithl" />.
=== Family and death === Atar's marriage to Kotler did not last; Kotler later married Atar's cousin, Ordit, and Atar herself married Binyamin Salor.{{cn|date=December 2025}}
From her second marriage, Atar had two children: Yael (Salor) Marzouk (the protagonist of the book ''Yael Is Traveling'') and Nathan Salor (the protagonist of the book ''Noni, Noni, Ain Kamoni''), a creator and singer who later renewed her song "Ballad for My Son Who Grew Up" (music by Sasha Argov).{{cn|date=December 2025}}
On September 8, 1977, at the age of 36, Tirza Atar was killed by falling from the sixth-floor window of her home in Tel Aviv. The family claimed it was likely an accident. The day before her death, she was hit by a taxi while crossing the street. Following a night of headaches, a concussion, and sedating medications, her rest was disturbed by construction workers in the adjacent building. She approached the window to ask the workers for quiet, which allegedly caused her to fall. The police investigation determined that, following the difficult night, she may have been struck by dizziness and lost her balance while leaning out the window toward the workers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=היום לפני 32 שנה: המשוררת תרצה אתר נמצאה מתה |url=https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/2009-09-07/ty-article/0000017f-f096-da6f-a77f-f89e13520000 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250125113121/https://www.haaretz.co.il/news/education/2009-09-07/ty-article/0000017f-f096-da6f-a77f-f89e13520000 |archive-date=2025-01-25 |access-date=2025-12-03 |website=Haaretz הארץ |language=he}}</ref>
The last poem she wrote was ''"Ballada La'Isha"'' (Ballad for a Woman). It was written for the play ''Four Women'' (an adaptation of Pam Gems' play, which she translated, and which deals with the suicide of one of the characters). The poem included the lines: "Even the books in the closed and sad room / Already knew she was not alright / She is going away for good." She gave the lyrics to the composer Moshe Wilensky. On the morning Wilensky delivered the composed song to Habima, Atar fell from her window and died.<ref>Hadar ben Yehuda, [https://blog.nli.org.il/tirza_atar_last_song/ הַכֹּל נִגְמַר – השיר האחרון של תרצה אתר], January 25, 2018</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=המשוררת תרצה אתר נהרגה בנפילה מחלון — דבר 9 ספטמבר 1977 — הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים |url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1977/09/09/01/article/7 |access-date=2025-12-03 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=he}}</ref>
To this day, there is no clear answer as to whether her death was an accident or a suicide. Wilensky suggested that having dealt with depression and a death wish for years, she may have fallen to her death without intending to.<ref name=":3" />
Atar was buried in Kiryat Shaul Cemetery, next to her father.<ref name=":3" />
==Awards== [[File:PikiWiki Israel 32816 The lion that loved strawberry story garden in Hol.JPG|thumb|The Lion Who Loved Strawberries, Holon, by Asaf Lifshitz]] [[File:Reuven Rivlin & Shlomo Artzi (1).jpg|thumb|Shlomo Artzi and former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin singing "Suddenly Now, Suddenly Today"]] ===Prize winners===
* Her children's book ''Ya'el Takes a Walk'', which Atar wrote for her daughter Ya'el ({{lang|he|"יעל מטיילת"}}, 1971) received the 1973 {{ill|Ze'ev Prize|he|פרס זאב לספרות ילדים ונוער}} for children's and youth literature.<ref>[https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1972/11/03/01/article/170?&dliv=none&e=-------he-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI--------------1 פרס זאב לתרצה אתר ולנתו ימתו], ''Davar'', November 3, 1972</ref> A story from the book, ''{{ill|The Lion Who Loved Strawberries|he|האריה שאהב תות}}'' (''Ha'aryeh she'ahav tot''), was republished in 2003 and was a national bestseller for 116 weeks.<ref name="ithl" />
* ''"Pit'om Achshav, Pit'om HaYom"'' {{ill|Suddenly Now, Suddenly Today|he|פתאום עכשיו, פתאום היום}}, performed by Shlomo Artzi, was the winner of the Israel Song Festival, 1970.<ref>[https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/mar/1970/05/12/01/article/21?&dliv=none&e=-------he-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI--------------1 שיר על צעיר מאוהב - ראשון בפסטיבל הזמר השמיני בבירה], Maariv, May 12, 1970</ref><ref>[https://www.maariv.co.il/culture/music/Article-775191 הסיפור מאחורי הלהיט הראשון של שלמה ארצי, שכמעט חמק ממנו], Maariv, July 3, 2020</ref>
* In 1970 her song ''"Ani Cholem al Naomi"'' ({{ill|I Dream of Naomi|he|אני חולם על נעמי}}) sung by the duo Hedva and David won the first place at the Yamaha Song Festival Tokyo, Japan.<ref>[https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1970/12/11/01/article/195?&dliv=none&e=-------he-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI--------------1, חדווז ודוד י חולמים על נעמי], ''Davar'', December 11, 1970 </ref> Its Japanese version ナオミの夢 "Naomi no Yume" was sold between one and three million copies, becoming the gold record. It was placed second on the 1971 Israeli Annual Hebrew Song Chart.
==About her life and work== *In 2015 {{ill|Ari Davidovich|he|ארי דוידוביץ'}} produced a documentary {{lang|he|תרצה אתר: ציפור בחדר}}, which won the jury award at the 2015 Haifa International Film Festival. *{{ill|Gundula Schiffer|de}}, Tirza Atar: Wenn alles berührt. Eine Biografie der Dichterin in Essays und Übersetzungen, Edition Karo, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-945961-09-4
==See also== *Category:Songs written by Tirza Atar at Hebrew Wikipedia
==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svdDjZ-H_V4 "Suddenly Now, Suddenly Today"] performed by Shlomo Artzi, 1976 *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_loD2f68eHs "I Dream of Naomi"], Hevda and David at the 1970 Yamaha Song Festival; award ceremony and performance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atar, Tirtza}} Category:1941 births Category:1977 deaths Category:Writers from Tel Aviv Category:Actresses from Tel Aviv Category:Israeli women songwriters Category:Israeli women dramatists and playwrights Category:Israeli women children's writers Category:Israeli stage actresses Category:Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Category:Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Category:Jewish Israeli dramatists and playwrights Category:Jewish Israeli songwriters Category:Jewish Israeli poets Category:Jewish Israeli artists Category:Jewish Israeli actresses Category:Jewish women songwriters Category:Jewish women dramatists and playwrights Category:Jewish women poets Category:Accidental deaths in Israel Category:Accidental deaths from falls Category:Deaths by defenestration Category:Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery Category:20th-century Israeli women poets Category:20th-century Israeli women artists Category:20th-century Israeli actresses Category:20th-century Israeli songwriters Category:20th-century Israeli translators Category:20th-century Israeli dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century Israeli Jews