Prof. Nurit Yaari, who last week was found in serious condition after having been missing for a week, died Sunday at the age of 77, said Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center – Ichilov, where she was being treated.

Yaari, a professor of theater, was hospitalized when police located her under a bridge in Tel Aviv, eight days after she had disappeared. She had apparently not eaten or had any water for the entire period.

“Yaari’s contribution, as a theater researcher, lecturer, translator, and intellectual, to culture and the study of Israeli and world theater was enormous,” Habima, Israel’s national theater, wrote in a post on social media. “Her work will remain a central pillar in understanding the art of theater in Israel. We share in the grief of the family and friends. May her memory be blessed.”

During her long career, Yaari taught theater at Tel Aviv University and, in 2008, was on the committee for the theater award of the Israel Prize.

She also held several senior positions in the world of Israeli theater. In 1990-1995, she was a dramatist and on the art committee of Habima Theater. From 1996, she was a dramatist and art adviser to Jerusalem Khan Theater. She was also a member of the council for the Rabinovich Foundation for the Arts, Tel Aviv, and the art council of its center for experimental theater.

Yaari was found under a bridge at Tel Aviv’s Ayalon River last Monday, according to Hebrew media reports at the time.

Yaari had reportedly spent days under the bridge at the river after she was last seen on security footage walking in the streets of Tel Aviv, seemingly disoriented.

She was thought not to have eaten or drunk since she went missing from Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center on October 26 after accompanying her husband, who had fallen and hit his head.

The visually impaired professor had left her home without her glasses or phone and was last seen on security cameras on a street near the hospital before being found.

At the time of her disappearance, actress Lilian Barreto, a friend of Yaari’s, told Channel 12 that it was unlike her to disappear but that she was suffering from dementia and was likely confused. (Times of Israel)