Anwar Shaul (; ; 1904–1984) was an Iraqi-Israeli journalist, publisher, author, translator, and poet.

Early life and education

Shaul was born in

Hillah Hillah ( ''al-Ḥillah''), also spelled Hilla, is a city in central Iraq. On the Hilla branch of the Euphrates River, it is south of Baghdad. The population was estimated to be about 455,700 in 2018. It is the capital of Babylon Province and is ...

to a family of

Iraqi Jews The history of the Jews in Iraq (, ', ; , ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity . Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities. The Jewish community in Mesopotamia, kn ...

. He was of Mizrahi descent on his father's side (Iraqi-Jewish) and of second-generation Ashkenazi descent on his mother's side (

Austrian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Austria starts after the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation. There have been Jews in Austria since the 3rd century CE. Over the course of many centuries, the political status of the community rose and ...

). He originally trained as a lawyer at the Baghdad Law College, graduating in 1931.

Career

Shaul served as editor of the Iraqi

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

journal (; ) from 1924 to 1925. In his contributions to the publication, he wrote under the pseudonym "Ibn al-Samaw'al" in an allusion to the 6th-century Arabian-Jewish poet

Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya As-Samaw’al bin ‘Ādiyā’ ( / ) was a pre-Islamic Arabian poet and warrior, esteemed by the Arabs for his loyalty, which was commemorated by an Arabic idiom: "''awfá min as-Samaw’al''" ( / more loyal than al-Samaw'al). He lived in th ...

. From 1929 to 1938, Shaul founded and worked as an editor for ( ), a weekly literary magazine. It featured significant political commentary; mixing harsh criticism of

European fascism Fascist movements in Europe were the set of various fascist ideologies which were practiced by governments and political organizations in Europe during the 20th century. Fascism was born in Italy following World War I, and other fascist move ...

and advocacy for both

Iraqi nationalism Iraqi nationalism is a form of nationalism that asserts the belief that Iraqis form a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Iraqis of different ethnoreligious groups such as Mesopotamian Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Yazidis, Mandeans ...

and complete political independence from the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. Under his editorial leadership, became the foremost weekly magazine in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

. In addition to his publication of periodicals, Shaul published a number of longer works, including memoirs, translations of

Western literature Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, and is shaped by the periods in which they were conceived, with each period containing prominent weste ...

into Arabic, as well as anthologies of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

and

Arabic poetry Arabic poetry ( ''ash-shi‘r al-‘arabīyy'') is one of the earliest forms of Arabic literature. Pre-Islamic Arabic poetry contains the bulk of the oldest poetic material in Arabic, but Old Arabic inscriptions reveal the art of poetry existe ...

Immigration to Israel

In 1971, Shaul, who had long been resistant to emigrating despite intensive state-sponsored

antisemitism in Iraq This is a partial list of countries where Antisemitism, antisemitic sentiment has been experienced. Africa Algeria Upon independence in 1962 only Muslims were permitted Algerian citizenship, and 95% of Algeria's 140,000 Jewish population left ...

, reluctantly made

aliyah ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...

. He continued to live in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

until his death in 1984.

References

1904 births 1984 deaths Iraqi Jews Jewish poets University of Baghdad alumni Translators to Arabic Hebrew-language writers 20th-century Iraqi writers 20th-century translators Israeli people of Austrian-Jewish descent {{Iraq-writer-stub