Fouad al-Tikerly ( ar, فؤاد التكرلي; August 22, 1927 – February 11, 2008) was a prominent Iraqi novelist and writer, best known for his groundbreaking novel ''al-Rajea al-Baeed'', translated into English as ''

The Long Way Back ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

''. Al-Tikerly was one of the last surviving members of a group of well known Iraqi novelists from the 1970s.

Biography

Al-Tikerly was born 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 Ctesipho ...

in 1927. At school he became friends with Abdul-Wahab al-Bayati. He graduated from the

University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) ( ar, جامعة بغداد ''Jāmi'at Baghdād'') is the largest university in Iraq, tenth largest in the Arab world, and the largest university in the Arab world outside Egypt. Nomenclature Both University ...

law school A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

in 1949. Employed at the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

of Iraq for 35 years, he became a judge in 1956 before later becoming head judge of the city of Baghdad's

Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much ...

. While in this position he acquired a notable reputation for fairness. Al-Tikerly moved to Paris in 1964 in order to pursue postgraduate legal studies; he later returned to France briefly during the 1980s. He retired from the law in 1983 in order to devote more time to writing novels. ''al-Rajea al-Baeed'' (''

''), published in 1980, depicts the suffering and trials afflicting four generations of a Baghdad family under several oppressive Iraqi government regimes in the years after the fall of the

Iraqi monarchy Iraqi or Iraqis (in plural) means from Iraq, a country in the Middle East, and may refer to: * Iraqi people or Iraqis, people from Iraq or of Iraqi descent * A citizen of Iraq, see demographics of Iraq * Iraqi or Araghi ( fa, عراقی), someone o ...

, including that of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

. Al-Tikerly's novel was one of few to openly criticize the Iraqi government without repercussions. Al-Tikerly had no

political affiliation A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

, and was not connected to the

Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused B ...

or the

regime In politics, a regime (also "régime") is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society. According to Yale professor Juan J ...

of Saddam Hussein. Al-Tikerly moved to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

in 1990 after the death of his wife. He later remarried the Tunisian novelist Rachida Turki. The government of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at ...

awarded al-Tikerly with the Owais Prize for Arabic-language novels and literature in 2000.

Death

Fouad al-Tikerly died of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of panc ...

at a hospital in Amman, Jordan, on February 11, 2008, at the age of 80. He and his family had been living in Jordan for the previous three years in order to escape the violence which swept Iraq following the 2003 Iraq War. He was survived by his wife and their son, as well as three daughters from his previous marriage. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani praised al-Tikerly "as an author and judge as well a president's adviser after the tyrant regime .e. Sadaam Hussein'swas ousted."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tikerly, Fouad Al- 1927 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Iraqi novelists 20th-century Iraqi judges Writers from Baghdad Iraqi expatriates in France Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Jordan University of Baghdad alumni Iraqi emigrants to Tunisia Iraqi short story writers 21st-century Iraqi novelists