Samir Naqqash ( he, סמיר נקאש, ar, سمير نقاش; 1938 in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

– 6 July 2004, in Petah Tikva) was an Israeli novelist, short-story writer, and playwright who immigrated from Iraq at the age of 13.

Biography

Samir Naqqash was born in Baghdad, the first of six children born to a wealthy Jewish family. He began school at the age of 4, and started writing at 6. When he was 13, he and his family moved to Israel, and had to live under comparatively harsh conditions in an absorption center. Several years later, his father died, and this had a strong effect on him. Determined to leave Israel to find himself, Naqqash lived in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from 1958 to 1962, but faced difficulties and was forced to return to Israel, where he took various jobs. In the 1970s, he studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and received his degree in

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...

. He was well known in the Arab world and among the Iraqi community in Israel, but only one of his works was translated into

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. Naqqash won the Israeli Prime Ministerial Award for Arabic literature. Naqqash often called himself an Arab who believed in Judaism. In the documentary " Forget Baghdad" (2002), he said that he had not wanted to go to Israel but was taken there in handcuffs by the

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

. He never felt at home in Israel, and considered himself an Iraqi in exile. He continued to publish and write in Arabic. He saw himself as part of the great tradition of Arabic folklore and literature. He was often criticized for his Arabic sounding first name but he refused to change it. After his death, Iraqi expatriates declared their wish to have him buried in Iraq, reasoning that he has shown more dedication to Iraq than any other expatriate. Naqqash was married, and had one daughter and two sons.

References

External links

With new translation, Samir Naqqash’s place in Israeli literature should finally be celebrated

Mondoweiss ''Mondoweiss'' is a news website that began as a general-interest blog written by Philip Weiss on ''The New York Observer'' website. It subsequently developed into a broader collaborative venture after fellow journalist Adam Horowitz joined it ...

, Mati Shemoelof, 18.8.2020 * In English :http://acc.teachmideast.org/texts.php?module_id=7&reading_id=310&sequence=1 * Art, etc. / Exiled from Babylon, Obituary in Haaretz by Neri Livneh, 6 August 2004
Marking the Passing of Samir Naqqash
by David Shasha, Kedma, 22 July 2004 (in Hebrew) * 1938 births 2004 deaths Israeli Arab Jews Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Iraqi emigrants to Israel Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent Iraqi Jews Israeli male dramatists and playwrights Israeli novelists Israeli male short story writers Israeli short story writers Jewish dramatists and playwrights Jewish novelists Israeli Mizrahi Jews Naturalized citizens of Israel Writers from Baghdad 20th-century novelists 20th-century Israeli dramatists and playwrights 20th-century short story writers 20th-century French male writers Burials at Segula Cemetery {{Israel-bio-stub