Prima Royale Hotel-Artist's Floors

Poet and author. (1924 – 2000) Born in Würzburg, Germany. For generations, Yehuda Amichai has been considered the most prominent poet in Israel and one of the leading figures in world poetry since the mid-1960's. Amichai's poetry deals with themes of day-to-day life, as well as philosophical issues. His work is characterized by gentle irony and original, often surprising, imagery. Amichai's poems are full of references to God and his religious experience. He was described as a philosopher-poet in search of a post-theological humanism. Amichai's talent has be described as a "Rare ability to transform the personal, even private love, with all its joys and agonies, into everybody's experience, making his own time and place general." Among Amichai's prizes and awards: Israel Prize (1982), Shlonsky Prize, Brenner Prize and Bialik Prize. He also won international poetry prizes, including the Malraux Prize: International Book Fair (France).

Author.(1888-1970) Born in Buczacz, Eastern Galicia. S.Y. Agnon is the first Hebrew writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, and is one of the central figures of modern Hebrew literature. Described as "a man of unquestionable genius" and "one of the great storytellers of our time," S.Y. Agnon is among the most effusively-praised and widely-translated Hebrew authors. His unique language and style have influenced generations of Hebrew authors. In addition to the 1966 Nobel Prize for Literature, Agnon received numerous literary awards, including the Israel Prize on two occasions. In 2007, his work was named among the ten most important in modern Hebrew literature. S.Y Agnon's works deal predominantly with the conflict between traditional Jewish life and the modern world, and attempts to recapture the fading traditions of the European shtetl, or township. Shai Agnon House: 16 Klauzner St., Jerusalem.

Painter. (1894-1980), Born in Brno, Brünn, Moravia. Anna Ticho is considered one of Israel's most important artists. During the seventy years she lived in Jerusalem with her husband Dr. Albert Ticho, her drawings captured Jerusalem's rocky hills, venerable trees, and the careworn inhabitants. Anna once said, "I didn’t choose the landscape – it chose me." Jerusalem's unique beauty captivated her and she felt a deep connection to the city, as both a geographical and a spiritual location. Anna Ticho was the recipient of many honors, including Yakirat Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Municipality's Prize for Art and Israel's National Prize for Painting. Anna's works are presented in major museums and private collections in Israel and abroad. She was a founding member of the New Bezalel School of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. Her works are displayed at The Anna Ticho House: 9 Harav Kook Street (near Zion Square) in Jerusalem.

Author. Born in Jerusalem in 1935, where he has been living his entire life. Dan Benaya Seri has spent many years working as a civil servant for the Ministry of Agriculture and began writing relatively late in life -- as an attempt, as he puts it: "to bring back the people I love", especially his father who was killed during the 1948 War of Independence when Seri was only 11 years old. Seri has written three novels and a number of short stories and novellas. His novella, The Thousand Wives of Naftali Siman-Tov, has been adapted for the screen. Seri is inspired by, and mainly writes about, the world of Sephardic Jews in Jerusalem. Through the stories, events and lives of his characters, he creates a self-determining society controlled by a willful logic of its own. Seri was awarded the Brenner Prize (2009) and the Bialik Prize (2012) for Lifetime Achievement.

Author and civil servant. Born in 1937 in Baghdad, Iraq. Amir immigrated to Israel with his family in 1950 and went to school in Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek. From 1964 to 1968 Amir served as an adviser on Arab affairs to the Prime Minister of Israel and as an envoy for the Ministry of Immigration Absorption to the United States. In 1984, he became director-general of the youth immigration department at the Jewish Agency. He retired in 2004, and has written several best sellers since. Amir is well-known in Israel for his involvement with new immigrants and his activity in Palestinian-Jewish relations. He has published four best-selling novels and a novella. His novel, Scapegoat, has been adapted as a play and a TV series. Amir has been awarded many prizes, including: The Ahi Award, Am Oved`s Jubilee Prize, the Yigal Alon Prize for Outstanding Service to Society, and the Prime Minister`s Prize (2002). He received an Honorary Doctorate from the Weizmann Institute for science, the Ben-Gurion University and the Tel Aviv University.

Author, diplomat and politician, served as the fifth President of Israel. Born in Jerusalem,1921-2015. As a descendant of a Sephardi family of rabbis, on his father's side, who have descended from Spanish Jews who had settled in Turkey, Sephardic folklore was a key part of Yitzhak Navon's existence, culture, and a source of inspiration. Navon wrote two musicals based on Sephardic folklore: Sephardic Romancero (1968) and Bustan Sephardi ("Spanish Garden" 1970), which were successfully performed at Habimah, Israel's national theater in Tel Aviv. He is also the author of "The Six Days and the Seven Gates" (1979), a modern legend about the reunification of Jerusalem. In addition to serving as Israel's fifth President, Yitzhak Navon's diplomatic and political life also included positions such as: Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion's Bureau Chief, and in 1963, Navon became head of the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Performer, singer, actor, and dramatist (1932 – 2006) Born in Jerusalem. Yossi Banai had a colorful and lively childhood, having been raised near Jerusalem's famous Mahane Yehuda market, being his main source of inspiration. Yossi Banai was one of the more prominent members of the well-known Israeli Banai family, of leading performers and musicians. Throughout his lifetime he collaborated with most of the active theatre companies in Israel, performing in countless productions. Banai himself wrote several cabaret style revues, which he typically performed solo and as a singer. He became famous for his unique presentation, smoky voice and penchant for performing French chansons. In 1998, Banai was awarded the Israel Prize for "stage arts – theatre" for his contribution to Israeli theatre.