Naftali Herz Imber was born in
Złoczów (now Zolochiv,
Ukraine), a city in
Galicia, which then was part of the
Austrian Empire. His parents were Joshua Heschel Schorr and Hodel Imber, who followed a strictly Orthodox lifestyle. He began writing poetry at the age of 10 and several years later received an award from Emperor
Franz Joseph for a poem on the centenary of
Bukovina's joining to the Austrian Empire. His brother, Shmaryahu Imber, also became a writer and a local teacher, and his son, Naftali's nephew
Shmuel Yankev, became a Yiddish language poet. In his youth Naftali Herz Imber
traveled through
Hungary,
Serbia, and
Romania. In 1882 Imber moved to
Ottoman Palestine as a secretary of
Sir Laurence Oliphant. He lived with Oliphant and his wife Alice in their homes in
Haifa and
Daliyat al-Karmel. Oliphant sent him to Beirut to learn the art of watchmaking. Upon his return he helped Imber open a shop in Haifa. In 1884, he moved to
Jerusalem, where he wrote poems suffused with elation and hope. In 1889, after quarreling with Oliphant, Imber departed for England. From there he traveled to Paris, Berlin and Bombay. In 1892, he headed for the United States, traveling from one city to another. The eminent Jewish judge,
Mayer Sulzberger, became his benefactor, providing him with a monthly allowance that allowed him to survive. ==Literary career==