Patrick Abram Seale (7 May 1930 – 11 April 2014) was a British journalist and author who specialised in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. A former correspondent for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', he interviewed many Middle Eastern leaders and personalities. Seale was also a literary agent and art dealer.

Background

Patrick Abram SealeTim Llewellyn
Obituary: Patrick Seale
, ''The Guardian'', 13 April 2014 was a

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

-born journalist. His father was Morris Siegel Seale (1896–1993), the

Arabist An Arabist is someone, often but not always from outside the Arab world, who specialises in the study of the Arabic language and Arab culture, culture (usually including Arabic literature). Origins Arabists began in Al Andalus, medieval Muslim ...

and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, who was a Russian Jewish convert to Presbyterianism and Christian missionary in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, where Patrick spent most of his first 14 years. Seale's mother was Reine Attal, a Tunisian-Italian midwife. Seale attended Balliol and St Antony's College, Oxford, where he specialised in Middle Eastern history. He obtained his D.Litt. at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. His sister was the fashion designer Thea Porter.

Career

His journalistic experience includes six years with

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

, mainly as a financial journalist, and over twelve with ''

'', covering the Middle East, Africa, and India. Based in France, Seale was syndicated by Agence Global. His columns appeared in most major newspapers around the world, and were carried weekly by several newspapers, including ''

Al-Hayat ''Al-Hayat'' ( ''Life'') was an Arabic newspaper based in Beirut from its founding 28 January 1946 to 1976 and in London after its refounding in 1988. It was a pan-Arab newspaper owned by Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan, that had a circulation ...

'' (London), '' Al-Ittihad'' (

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

), '' The Daily Star'' (

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

), '' The Saudi Gazette'' (

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

) and ''

Gulf News ''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. First launched in 1978, it is distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf countries. Its online edition was launched in 1996. Thro ...

'' (

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

Personal life and death

Seale married twice. First to Lamorna Heath in 1971 (died 1978) by whom he had a child, Orlando. His second wife, the writer and broadcaster Rana Kabbani, was the mother of his younger children, journalist Alexander Seale and writer and translator Yasmine Seale. Patrick Seale died aged 83 on 11 April 2014 in London from

brain cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

Works

Seale authored numerous books, including: * ''The Struggle for Syria'' (1965) * ''French Revolution 1968'' (1968) * '' Philby, the Long Road to Moscow'' (1973) * ''The Hilton Assignment'' (1973) * '' Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East'' (1988) * ''Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire'' (1992) * ''The Struggle for Arab Independence: Riad el-Solh and the Makers of the Modern Middle East'' (2010)

References

External links

A candid conversation with Patrick Seale
''SAST REPORT''; accessed 13 April 2014
Interview broadcast on RFI
25 July 2009; accessed 13 April 2014 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seale, Patrick 1930 births 2014 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford British male journalists British non-fiction writers British art dealers British literary agents Deaths from brain cancer in England Journalists from Belfast