Yisrael Zmora Dead at 85

Yisrael Zmora, literary figure and publisher of contemporary and medieval poetry, died here Saturday at the age of 85. Born in Russia, Zmora began writing in Hebrew at the age of 15. During the Bolshevik Revolution he was drafted into the Red Army, and after serving for a time he escaped from the Soviet Union through Rumania and come to Palestine in 1925.

First as a critic and then as a publisher, Zmora become widely known. He played a role in the publishing of “Landmarks in Hebrew Literature.” He also published the works of young Hebrew poets — Nathan Alterman, Yonathan Ratosh, Aharon Amir and Shlomo Tani, and several Hebrew poets from Spain and Italy.