Bensalem Himmich (; born in 1948 in

Meknes Meknes (, ) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th century by the Almoravid dynasty, Almoravids as a military settlement, Mekne ...

) is a Moroccan novelist, poet and philosopher with a PhD in Philosophy from the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, who teaches at the

Mohammed V University Mohammed V University (, ) is a public university in Rabat, Morocco. It was founded in 1957 under a royal decree ( Dahir). It is the first modern university in Morocco after the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez. It is named after Mohammed V of ...

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

. He served as Minister of Culture from 29 July 2009 to 3 January 2012.

Career

He has published 26 books, both literary and scientific works, in Arabic and French. As a liberal philosopher, Himmich is concerned with matters including ideological education in

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

. He advocates the division of church and state. His creative and academic works are in both

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and some of his novels have been translated into several languages. The Egyptian Writers’ Union selected his novel Majnoun Al-Hukm (The Theocrat) as one of the 100 best novels of the 20th Century, and another novel, Mu’adhdhibati (My Torturess), was shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. Himmich received the grand award of the French Academy of Toulouse in 2011. His work deals with the problems and conflicts with which

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

is faced today.

Books

* ''De la formation idéologique en Islam'' * ''Le Calife de l'épouvante (Le serpent à plumes)'' * ''The Polymath'', ed.: American University in Cairo * ''Au pays de nos crises'' * ''The Self - Between Existence and Creation''

Awards

* Bensalem Himmich won the prize of the critics (1990) for his novel ''le fou du pouvoir'', a book elected by the Arab union of writers as one of the hundred best books of the 20th century. * He won the prize Charika of the Arab culture of jury composed of UNESCO and well known literary personalities. * Ben Salem Himmich won the

Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature The Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature () is a literary award for Arabic literature.Ibn Khaldoun Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 AH) was an Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and considered by a number ...

) (The award was established in 1996 and awarded for the best contemporary novel published in Arabic. The winning work is translated into English and published in Cairo, London, and New York.) *The Naguib Mahfouz Medal (Cairo, 2002). Himmich was awarded by the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature for his book Al-'Allamah (The Polymath), about the great Arab writer and thinker Ibn Khaldoun. *The UNESCO Sharjah Prize (Paris, 2003). *2019

Sheikh Zayed Book Award The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is a literary award presented yearly to writers, intellectuals, publishers whose writings and scholarly publications contributed to Arab cultural, literary and social life. The award has been described as “the Arab ...

: Literature Award.

References

1948 births People from Meknes University of Paris alumni 20th-century Moroccan poets 21st-century Moroccan poets 20th-century Moroccan writers 21st-century Moroccan writers Living people Moroccan male novelists Academic staff of Mohammed V University Moroccan male writers Moroccan novelists 20th-century Moroccan philosophers 21st-century Moroccan philosophers Moroccan writers in French Socialist Union of Popular Forces politicians {{Morocco-writer-stub