Baruch Agadati the veteran painter, dancer and Hebrew film pioneer, died here Sunday at the age of 81. He was a legendary figure who brought joy and artistic creativity into the Jewish community in Palestine during the 1920s. He initiated the Purim festivities in Tel Aviv when this city was still a small suburb of Jaffa and also began the nationwide Purim festivals. In the early 1930s, he made the first Hebrew film, “This is the Land.”
Mr. Agadati was born in Bessarabia and began his dancing career there. His objective in that field was to create a specific style of Jewish dance. In 1910, he came to Palestine where he studied at the Bezaiel Academy and worked in orange groves and on road construction. During World War I, he was expelled to Egypt by the Turks from where he returned to Odessa where he obtained a position as a dancer at the local opera ballet company. Immediately after the war, Mr. Agadati returned to Palestine where he launched his wide-spread artistic activities in films, carnivals, painting and public festivities.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
