Naguib Mahfouz

Facts

Naguib Mahfouz

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Naguib Mahfouz
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1988

Born: 11 December 1911, Cairo, Egypt

Died: 30 August 2006, Cairo, Egypt

Residence at the time of the award: Egypt

Prize motivation: “who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind”

Language: Arabic

Prize share: 1/1

Life

Naguib Mahfouz was born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1911. He came to live in this city his entire life. Parallell with his authorship Mahfouz worked as a civil servant at the culture ministry for many years. From an early age, he was an avid reader. After finishing his secondary education, Mahfouz was admitted to the Cairo University, where he studied philosophy. After graduating in 1934, he decided not to pursue studying, having decided he wanted become a professional writer.

Work

Naguib Mahfouz’ authorship deals with some of life’s fundamental questions, including the passage of time, society and norms, knowledge and faith, reason and love. He often uses his hometown of Cairo as the backdrop for his stories and some of his early works are set in ancient Egypt. Later, the modern age and life in a changing society became the focus of his writing, although some of his later works have a more mystical or metaphysical character. Mahfouz’ body of work comprises more than 30 novels and 350 short stories. Many of his stories have been adapted for film.

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