Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Literature & Poetry

7

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Abdelmajid Ben Jeddou

عبد المجيد بن جدو

Tunisia

1918 – 1994 (76 years old)

Master lyric poet and dramatist of the Tunisian musical renaissance who composed hundreds of immortal song lyrics for Hedi Jouini, Ali Riahi, and Oulaya, defining national romantic poetry.

Tunis, Tunisia

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Literature & Poetry

5

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Youcef Sebti

يوسف سبتي

Algeria

1943 – 1993 (50 years old)

Visionary poet and professor of rural sociology at the National Agronomic Institute of El Harrach, author of 'L'Enfer et le pouce', assassinated during the Black Decade.

Skikda, Algeria

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Literature & Poetry

2

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Silvina Ocampo

Silvina Ocampo Aguirre

Argentina

1903-07-28 – 1993-12-14 (90 years old)

Enigmatic and visionary Argentine author of surrealist, fantastical short stories and poetry, author of Autobiografía de Irene and La furia, praised by Borges as Argentina's finest poet.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

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Literature & Poetry

9

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Mohamed Zniber

محمد زنيبر

Morocco

1923 – 1993 (70 years old)

Leading Moroccan historian, essayist, and novelist from Salé who pioneered modern critical historiography at Mohammed V University, author of the anti-colonial novel Sayl al-Layl.

Salé, Morocco

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Literature & Poetry

32

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Flora Nwapa

Florence Nwanzuruahu Nkiru Nwapa

Nigeria

1931 – 1993 (62 years old)

Nigerian author widely recognized as the 'Mother of Modern African Literature', becoming in 1966 the first internationally published African female novelist in the English language with Efuru.

Oguta (Imo State), Nigeria

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Literature & Poetry

34

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Tahar Djaout

طاهر جاووت

Algeria

1954 – 1993 (39 years old)

Heroic Algerian investigative journalist, poet, and novelist whose assassination in 1993 marked the tragic opening of the targeted killings of intellectuals during the Algerian Civil War, immortalized by his motto 'Silence is death'.

Azeffoun (Tizi Ouzou), Algeria

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Literature & Poetry

4

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Tahar Guiga

الطاهر قيقة

Tunisia

1922 – 1993 (70 years old)

Pioneering Tunisian novelist and folklorist who transcribed the Hilalian epic folk cycles and authored acclaimed historical novels including The Falcon of Djerba and The Burning of Carthage.

Tunis, Tunisia

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Literature & Poetry

31

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Kobo Abe

安部 公房

Japan

1924 – 1993 (68 years old)

Japanese avant-garde novelist and playwright dubbed the 'Japanese Kafka', whose existential masterpiece The Woman in the Dunes explored alienation and human endurance.

Tokyo, Japan

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Literature & Poetry

3

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Albert Hourani

ألبرت حوراني

Great Britain

31 March 1915 – 17 January 1993 (77 years old)

Preeminent Lebanese-British historian of the Middle East, author of the seminal masterworks 'Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age' and 'A History of the Arab Peoples'.

Oxford, United Kingdom

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Literature & Poetry

0

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William J.F. Syad

William J.F. Syad

French Somaliland

1930-01-01 – c. 1993 (63 years old)

Foundational father of Djiboutian literature whose poignant bilingual poetic collections 'Khamsine' and 'Harmattan' blended Somali oral traditions with French lyrical verse to celebrate Horn of Africa culture.

Djibouti City, Djibouti

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Literature & Poetry

16

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Yehia Hakki

يحيى حقي

Egypt

January 17, 1905 – December 9, 1992 (87 years old)

Revered Egyptian novelist, short story pioneer, and cultural diplomat whose celebrated novella 'The Lamp of Umm Hashim' masterfully explored the cultural tensions between traditional religious faith and Western scientific rationalism.

Cairo, Egypt

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Literature & Poetry

31

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Yahya Haqqi

يحيى حقي

Egypt

1905 – 1992 (87 years old)

Revered Egyptian diplomat, critic, and author acclaimed as the father of the modern Egyptian novella, whose 1940 masterpiece 'The Lamp of Umm Hashim' explored the philosophical clash between Western science and traditional Eastern faith.

Cairo, Egypt

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Literature & Poetry

8

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Ali El-Makk

علي المك

Sudan

1937 – 1992 (55 years old)

Beloved Sudanese author, master short story writer, and literary translator who captured the urban soul of Omdurman, translated James Baldwin and Langston Hughes into Arabic, and presided over the Sudanese Writers Union.

Omdurman, Sudan

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Literature & Poetry

3

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Väinö Linna

Väinö Valtteri Linna

Finland

1920-12-20 – 1992-04-21 (71 years old)

Monumental Finnish author who reshaped his nation's historical consciousness through his unflinching Continuation War novel Tuntematon sotilas (The Unknown Soldier) and the North Star trilogy.

Tampere, Finland

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Literature & Poetry

30

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Yusuf Idris

يوسف إدريس

Egypt

1927 – 1991 (64 years old)

Egyptian physician, novelist, and playwright revered as the undisputed master of the modern Arabic short story, celebrated for 'The Cheapest Nights' and his revolutionary avant-garde play 'The Farfoors'.

Cairo, Egypt

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Literature & Poetry

2

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António Jacinto

António Jacinto do Amaral Martins

Angola

1924-09-28 – 1991-06-23 (66 years old)

Heroic Angolan poet and independence activist who survived twelve years of imprisonment in the notorious Tarrafal concentration camp, author of iconic resistance poems Monangamba and Letter from a Contract Worker.

Luanda, Angola

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Literature & Poetry

4

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Northrop Frye

Herman Northrop Frye

Canada

1912 – 1991 (78 years old)

Internationally renowned literary theorist at Victoria College whose 1957 masterpiece Anatomy of Criticism revolutionized structuralist literary theory, and who coined the concept of the 'garrison mentality'.

Toronto, Canada

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Literature & Poetry

5

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Sadok Mazigh

الصادق مازيغ

Tunisia

1906 AD – 1990 (84 years old)

Distinguished man of letters and poet who produced one of the most celebrated and stylistically elegant French translations of the Holy Quran, published in two monumental volumes.

Tunis, Tunisia

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