Fuat Deniz (; 24 July 1967 – 13 December 2007) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

sociologist and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

of Assyrian descent. Until his murder in 2007, he worked as a

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

in sociology at the Department of Social and Political Sciences at

Örebro University Örebro University () is a public university in Örebro, Sweden. The university has its roots in the Örebro campus of Uppsala University, and became an independent state university college in 1977, Örebro University College (''Högskolan i Ö ...

. Deniz was born as the oldest son into an Assyrian family in the village of

Dargeçit Dargeçit (, , ) is a municipality and district of Mardin Province, Turkey. Its area is 519 km2, and its population is 27,147 (2022). The town is principally populated by Kurds of the Erebiyan tribe. It is located in the historic region of ...

Tur Abdin Tur Abdin (; ; ; or ) is a hilly region situated in southeast Turkey, including the eastern half of the Mardin Province, and Şırnak Province west of the Tigris, on the Syria–Turkey border, border with Syria and famed since Late Antiquity for ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. He came to Sweden with his parents as an eight-year-old and grew up in

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

. In his youth he was active in the Assyrian Youth Federation in Sweden, which he also co-founded, and was also a diligent writer for the Swedish National Assyrian Federation's magazine ''Hujådå''. He earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in sociology at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

in 1999. In his doctoral thesis, titled ''En minoritets odyssé'' ("The Odyssey of a Minority"), he discussed the experiences of Assyrians coming to Sweden in the 1970s. Deniz was a well-known figure among the Assyrian community in Sweden and was also internationally known for his research on the

Assyrian genocide The Sayfo (, ), also known as the Seyfo or the Assyrian genocide, was the mass murder and deportation of Assyrian/Syriac Christians in southeastern Anatolia and Persia's Azerbaijan province by Ottoman forces and some Kurdish tribes during ...

. On 11 December 2007, at approximately 15.30

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, Deniz was attacked and

stabbed A stabbing is penetration or rough contact with a sharp or pointed object at close range. ''Stab'' connotes purposeful action, as by an assassin or murderer, but it is also possible to accidentally stab oneself or others. Stabbing differs from ...

in the back of his neck inside Örebro University. He died two days later from his injuries at

Örebro University Hospital Örebro University Hospital (, ) is a university hospital in Örebro, Sweden. The hospital is operated by Örebro County Council and took its current name in 2000, having previously been called Örebro Regional Hospital. The hospital is one of thr ...

. Early on there were some speculations in the media about a possible political motive behind the murder due to Deniz' research on the Assyrian genocide. On 16 January 2008, a 42-year-old man from

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Sweden, was arrested on suspicion for the murder. The suspect, who according to the police is a close relative of Deniz, has admitted to the stabbing but denied any intent to kill. The police said that an old feud between the two family members was the most likely motive for the killing and ruled out any political connections.

Works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deniz, Fuat 1967 births 2007 deaths Academic staff of Örebro University People from Dargeçit People from Örebro Swedish people of Assyrian descent Swedish sociologists Swedish male writers Swedish murder victims People murdered in Sweden Deaths by stabbing in Sweden Turkish people of Assyrian descent 2007 murders in Sweden