Naguib mahfouz biography egyptian novelist

Naguib Mahfouz (Arabic: نجيب محفوظ, Nagīb Maḥfūẓ) (December 11, – August 30, ) was an Egyptian novelist who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, along with Tawfiq el-Hakim, to explore themes of existentialism.

Mahfouz's importance extends beyond his considerable artistic skills. He was an advocate for Salman Rushdie after Ayatollah Khomeini placed a fatwa on his life for the publication of The Satanic Verses about the Prophet Muhammad, at great personal risk.

Naguib mahfouz biography egyptian novelist

He received death threats for his criticism of the fatwa. Mahfouz was well read in Western literature and embraced the ideals of socialism. He serves as a bridge between Western culture and democracy and the world of Islam.

Biography

Born into a lower middle-class Muslim family in the Gamaleyya quarter of Cairo, Mahfouz was named after Professor Naguib Pasha Mahfouz (), the renowned Coptic physician who delivered him.

Mahfouz was the seventh