Shlomo Kalo was born in 1928, in Sofia, Bulgaria. At the age of 12, he joined the anti-fascist underground. At the Age of 15, under a Nazi-supporting regime, Kalo was imprisoned in a concentration camp in Somovit. At the age of 18, he won a prize in a poetry competition and went to Prague, where he studied medicine at the Karl University, worked as a freelance journalist and wrote short stories. When the state of Israel was founded in 1948, Shlomo Kalo joined "Mahal" and trained as a pilot in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia. In 1949, at the age of 21 he immigrated to Israel. In 1958, he was awarded M.Sc. in microbiology from the Tel Aviv University. For 26 years and until his retirement in 1988, he worked as the regional director of medical laboratories at the General Health Care Services, in Rishon-leZion.
In 1954, "Sifriyat Poalim" published Shlomo Kalo's first title in Hebrew, "Catacombs" - short fiction collection. His writings would later include novels, fiction, philosophy, poetry, music, literature for youngsters, translation of various holy-writs, "The documented Story" - an original genre and more.
In 1969, a sharp turn in his life occurred. It affected his life, thoughts and his highly prolific literary activity ever since.
Shlomo Kalo has altogether written 80 titles in a variety of genres. Some of his books are translated and published in 17 countries, from Korea to most of Europe to South America. In Israel, his best selling titles are "The Chosen", "Lili", "The Trousers – parables for the 21st Century" and "Answers". Almost all literary magazines and literary supplements in Israel published short stories of his. Kalo has been interviewed on several occasions for national radio and TV programs as well as for all major newspapers.
Since 2009, there have been persistent rumors in various international news sites and in the Israeli press that Shlomo Kalo has been nominated for the receiving of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Shlomo Kalo died in his house on Sabbath morning, 30.8.2014. His last words were: "Everything is excellent to the one who is not subjugated".
