He was born in
Jerusalem in June 1926, to a pious ultra-orthodox Jewish family that had lived in the city for several generations. His ancestors arrived in Jerusalem in the 19th century, from Hungary on his father's side and the Russian Empire on his mother's side. According to family stories, his father's side was descended from Jews expelled from Spain in 1492. Shahar studied at the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He was involved with the
Irgun Tzvai Leumi and the
Canaanite movement, and identified as an
Orthodox Jewish,
ultranationalist, right-wing writer. Shahar's series of novels
The Palace of Shattered Vessels is recognized by many as his masterpiece, considered a realist depiction of life in pre-State Jerusalem. Regarded as an Israeli version of
Proust by French and some Israeli critics, he won the
Prix Medicis Etranger and the title of Commander in the
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He also won Israeli literary awards such as the
Bialik Prize, the
Agnon Prize and the
Prime Minister's Prize for Hebrew Literary Works. He had two children with the medieval historian
Shulamith Shahar, one of them was the Israelian sinologist,
Meir Shahar. He died in Paris in 1997. Poet and chemist
Avner Treinin spoke at his funeral when Shahar was buried on the Mount of Olives. ==Works==