The Lawsuit

BY: NAGUIB MAHFOUZ

 Naguib Mahfouz

Quick Facts:
 Birthday: December 11, 1911  Family:Spouse/Ex-: Attiyatullah
Mahfouz (M. 1954)
 Nationality: Egyptian
 Father: Abdel-Aziz Ibrahim
 Born In: Cairo, Egypt
 Mother: Fatimah
 Died On: August 30, 2006
 Children: Fatima, Umm Kalthum
 Died At Age: 94
 Famous As: Novelist
 Place Of Death: Cairo
 Nobel Prize for Literatures
 City: Cairo, Egypt
 Naguib Mahfouz was born on 11 December 1911 in
a middle class family in Cairo. His father Abdel-Aziz
Ibrahim was a civil servant and his mother’s name
was Fatimah. He had 6 siblings - four brothers and
two sisters and he was the youngest.

He was tutored at a Koranic school also called

‘Kuttab’. He completed his primary and secondary
education and his interest in Arabic Literature
began growing here. His greatest influence during
Childhood the time was writer Hafiz Najib.

and Earlylife When Naguib Mahfouz was only seven, he

witnessed the Eqyptian revolution of 1919. It is said
to have had a great effect on him as it gave him his
initial experience of nationalist sentiment and
deeply influenced his writings later on.

After completing his education at the Kuttab,

Naguib Mahfouz was enrolled at Egyptian University
in 1930. He graduated with a degree in Philosophy
in 1934. He went on to pursue an M.A in Philosophy,
but discontinued after a year, with the objective of
taking up professional writing as occupation.
 After completing his graduation, Naguib Mahfouz
went on to take up work with the Egyptian civil
service in 1934. Here, he continued working in
various departments until his retirement in the year
1971. His initially worked as a clerk at the Cairo
University.

By 1936, he began his writing career as a journalist

with Al – Risala. During this time, he also used to
contribute short stories to newspapers Al- Ahram
and El- Hilal.

Career In 1938, he was appointed the Parliamentary

Secretary to the Minister of Islamic Endowments at
the Ministry of Islamic Endowments (Awqaf). The
following year Naguib Mahfouz’s debut novel
‘Khufu’s Wisdom’ was published.

Other prominent works by him include novels like

‘Abath Al Aqdar’ (published in 1939), ‘Radobis’
(published in 1943), ‘Khan al-Khalili’ (published in
1945). His style of writing was unpolished and he
often included topics like socialism, God,
homosexuality, philosophical and psychological
issues.
He requested a transfer to the al-Ghuri Mausoleum
library at Cairo in 1945. Here, he managed the ‘Good
Loan Project’, which was an ‘interest- free’ loan
program for poor.

He also got the opportunity to observe the area and

life there and explored western literature in this period.
He read the works of Conrad, Shakespeare, Ibsen,
Proust, Stendhal etc.

During the 1950s he took up the post of Director of

Censorship in the Bureau of Arts and Director of the
Foundation for the Support of Cinema. His last
assignment in the Civil Services was as a consultant to
the Ministry of Culture.
He published ‘The Cairo Trilogy’ - three novels that
portray the lives of three generations in the Cairo city
beginning from World War I to the military coup in
1952. The novels are titled ‘Bayn al Qasrayn’ (1956),
‘Qasr al Shawq (1957), Sukkariya’ (1957) (Between-
the-Palaces, Palace of Longing, Sugarhouse).
In 1959, his novel ‘Awlād ḥāratinā’ (Children of the
Alley) was published and was subsequently banned in
Egypt owing to its controversial content. The usage of
religious prophets’ names and the treatment of
religion in the novel caused much outrage among a
section and he even received death threats.

Major work
 Naguib Mahfouz’s works are
concentrated around the lives and
people of Egypt. His most notable work is
the ‘The Cairo Trilogy’, a collection of
three novels that were published during
1956-1957, and earned him international
acclaim.
Awards and Achievement
 He received two Egyptian state awards
for his writings.
 In 1988 Naguib Mahfouz was awarded
the Nobel Prize for Literature.
 In 1989, the American University at Cairo
awarded him the Presidential Medal. The
University also gave him an honorary
doctorate in 1995.
 In 1992, he was made an honorary
member of the American Academy and
Institute of Arts and Letters.
 In 2002, he was elected as a member to
the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences.
 Naguib Mahfouz married Atiyyatallah Ibrahim in 1954. The
couple had two daughters - Fatima and Umm Kalthum.

He had stated that he remained a bachelor until he was

43 as he believed that marriage would restrict his future in
Personal Life literature.

and Legacy He was stabbed in the neck by a religious fanatic in 1994

in an attempt to take his life. He recovered the attack but
the nerves on the upper right limb were severely
damaged. This had a negative impact on his work as he
was able to write for a few minutes a day only.

Naguib Mahfouz died on 30 August 2006 at Cairo. He was

94 at the time of his death.