About S. Yizhar
Yizhar Smilansky, known by his pen name S. Yizhar, was an Israeli writer and politician. Widely regarded as one of the preeminent figures in Israeli literature, he was awarded the Israel Prize in 1959 for fine literature. He was also awarded several other prizes of national distinction. In his political life, Yizhar served in the Knesset under Mapai almost continuously from 1949–1967. His pen name was given to him by the poet and editor Yitzhak Lamdan when in 1938 he published Yizhar's first story Ephraim Goes Back to Alfalfa in his literary journal Galleons. The play won first prize at the Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre in 2001.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.