Born in Warsaw, Poland (1922-2003), he immigrated to Israel at the age of two months, and lived in Haifa. Member of the "New Horizons" group (artists who worked in the first 15 years of the State of Israel and sought to advance the directions in the international art on art in Israel). Won the Israel Prize for Sculpture in 1986 and the Dizengoff Prize for the Art of Painting and Sculpture (1956) and other prizes.
The signature of Yechiel Shemi can be seen in one of the sculptures ("Genesis")