Driss Chraïbi

Driss Chraibi (Source: Wikimedia Commons, Ladyzee, CC-BY-3.0) On 1 April 2007, Moroccan novelist, dramatist, and radio producer Driss Chraïbi died in Crest, France at the age of 80. Chraïbi's novels deal with colonialism, culture clashes, generational conflict and the treatment of women and are often perceived as semi-autobiographical. Chraïbi also created radio programs for 'France Culture' for 40 years.

Driss Chraïbi was born on 15 July 1926 in Mazagan (now el-Jadida). He attended a Koranic school before joining the M'hammed Guessous School in Rabat, followed by the Lycée Lyautey in Casablanca. In 1945, he went to university in Paris, where, in 1950, he earned a degree in chemical engineering. After obtaining his degree, he did graduate work in neuropsychiatry and abandoned science just before receiving a doctorate. He then earned his living from a a variety of jobs, before turning to literature and journalism.

Chraïbi became known through his first two novels, 'Le passé simple' (1954), whose depiction of a young man's revolt against traditional society generated controversy in Morocco during its struggle for independence, and its counterpoint 'Les boucs' (1955) a ferocious attack on the treatment of North African immigrants in France. Since then, Chraïbi has written some twenty novels and collections of short fiction, including mysteries featuring the Moroccan Inspector Ali, several children's books as well as two volumes of autobiography.

He was awarded the Prix de l’Afrique Méditerranéenne in 1973 and the Franco-Arab Friendship Award in 1981.

(Source: Wikipedia)