Ibrahim Ahmad (6 March 1914 – 8 April 2000) (alternatively spelt Ibrahim Ahmed or Ibrahîm Ehmed) (, ) was an Iraqi

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

writer, novelist, jurist and translator who founded the

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK; ) is a political party active in Kurdistan Region and the Disputed territories of Northern Iraq, disputed territories in Iraq. The PUK describes its goals as self-determination, human rights, democracy a ...

in 1975. He is the father-in-law of

Jalal Talabani Jalal Talabani (; ; 1933 – 3 October 2017) was an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the sixth president of Iraq from 2005 to 2014, as well as the president of the Governing Council of Iraq. Talabani was the founder and secretary-gene ...

and

Abdul Latif Rashid Abdul Latif Rashid (; born 10 August 1944), also known as Letif Reshid (), is an Iraqi politician serving as the ninth president of Iraq. He was previously the Ministry of Water Resources (Iraq), Minister of Water Resources under the Government o ...

through both of his daughters.

Biography

Ibrahim Ahmad was born to a

family in

Sulaymaniyah Sulaymaniyah or Slemani (; ), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and is the capital of the Sulaymaniyah Governorate. It is surrounded by the Azmar (Ezmer), Goizha (Goyje) and Qaiwan (Qeywan) Mountains in the northeast, Bara ...

in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and studied

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) (, also known as Baghdad University) is a public university, public research university in Baghdad, Iraq. It is the largest university in Iraq and the tenth largest in the Arab world. History The College of Isl ...

, graduating in 1937. From 1942 to 1944, he served as a judge in the cities of

Irbil Erbil (, ; , ), also called Hawler (, ), is the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is the capital of the Erbil Governorate. Human settlement at Erbil may be dated back to the 5th millennium BC. At the h ...

and

Halabja Halabja (, ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the capital of Halabja Governorate, located about northeast of Baghdad and from the Iranian border. The city lies at the base of what is often referred to as the greater Hewraman re ...

. In 1939, he, along with Alaaddin Sajadi, founded the

literary periodical ''Gelawêj''. He acted as the publisher and the Editor in Chief of that journal. ''Gelawêj'' was published until 1949. It was during this period that he became involved in politics. In 1944 he became the head of the local branch of

Komeley Jiyanewey Kurd The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI; , HDKA; ), also known as the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), is an armed leftist separatist movement of Kurds, exiled in northern Iraq with branch offices in Europe. It is banned in Ira ...

(J.K.) in

. Subsequently, this branch evolved to serve the entirety of

Southern Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdistan), ...

. When the J.K. changed its name on 16 July 1945, to the

Kurdistan Democratic Party The Kurdistan Democratic Party (), usually abbreviated as KDP or PDK, is the ruling Political party, party in Iraqi Kurdistan and the senior partner in the Kurdistan Regional Government. It was founded in 1946 in Mahabad in Iranian Kurdistan. ...

(K.D.P.), Ibrahim Ahmad became its chairman in Iraqi Kurdistan. This branch of the K.D.P. published a magazine titled ''Dengî Rastî'' with Ibrahim Ahmad as editor. After 1947, he became an active member of the

, and rose to the role of

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the party in 1953. In 1949, he was sentenced by a special Iraqi court, established by the royalist regime, to two years of prison 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 ...

, and two years of local arrest in

Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...

. From 1949 to 1956, he served as the editor of the K.D.P's newspaper, ''Rizgarî''. The party's newspaper was renamed to ''Xebat'' in 1956 with Ibrahim Ahmed as the editor. In 1964, a political division occurred among the ranks of K.D.P., with Ahmad on one side and

Mustafa Barzani Mustafa Barzani (14 March 1903 – 1 March 1979), also known as Mullah Mustafa, was a Kurdish nationalist leader and one of the most prominent political figures in modern Kurdish politics. In 1946, he was chosen as the leader of the Kurdistan ...

on the other. This division lead to the formation of

in 1975. After 1975, Ibrahim Ahmed emigrated to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

as a

political refugee The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, such as a second country or another enti ...

. Ibrahim Ahmed started writing novels in Kurdish in 1933. This was an important milestone in Kurdish literature. His most important novel is ''Janî Gel''. It was written in 1956 and is about the Kurdish war of independence, with a nod to the Kurdish situation. When selecting this title, Ibrahim Ahmed was playing on the double meaning of the Kurdish phrase which can mean the agony of giving birth to a child as well as the agony of giving birth to a people or a nation. It was translated into

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

and published in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in 1980, and into

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

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), ...

in 1994.

Works

Short stories

Ahmad's short stories, articles and poems were published in three different magazines: ''Gelawêj'', ''Hawar'' and ''Jiyan''. He has also published many books. # ''Yadgarî Lawan'' (Memories of youth), Collection of poem and stories, Baghdad, 1933. # ''Kwêrewerî'' (Misery), Collection of short stories, Baghdad, 1959. # ''Bawik û Kur'' (Father and son), short story, published in the magazine ''Çirîkey Kurdistan'', England, 1979. # ''Pirsey Şehîd'' (The vigil of martyr), short story, published in the magazine ''Çirîkey Kurdistan'', England, 1980.

Novels

# ''Janî Gel'' (The suffering of the people), Novel, 1972, Iraq. #''Dirk û Gul'' (The thorn and the flower), in two volumes, 1991. (written in 1961) # ''Awat û Nahumêdî'' (Expectations and Desperation), written in 1933, not been published yet. #''Herzekarî û Hejarî'' (Negligence and Poverty), written in 1972, unpublished. #''Jiyan û Xebat'' (Life and Struggle), written in 1961, unpublished.

Articles

# Ibrahim Ahmad, ''The Republic of Kurdistan: A Personal Memoir'', in the

International Journal of Kurdish Studies The ''International Journal of Kurdish Studies'' () is an academic journal published by the Kurdish Library, and was edited by Vera Beaudin Saeedpour. It publishes scholarly articles about Kurdish culture, literature, and history. It was founded ...

, Vol.11, Nos.1-2, 1997, p. 19.

References

*.
Ibrahim Ahmed, The Rebirth of a Kurdish Novelist, The Middle East magazine, November 1996

Jana Gel, by Ibrahim Ahmad
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad, Ibrahim Iraqi writers in Kurdish 20th-century Kurdish writers Iraqi emigrants to the United Kingdom 1914 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Iraqi writers Iraqi Kurdistani politicians University of Baghdad alumni Kurdish nationalists 20th-century Iraqi novelists Iraqi short story writers 20th-century Iraqi journalists