Abdelkrim Ghallab
# Abdelkrim Ghallab

Abdelkrim Ghallab (December 31, 1919, in Fes – August 14, 2017, in El Jadida) was a Moroccan political journalist, cultural commentator, and novelist. He is an important figure both in the literary and political field (editor of the Istiqlal Party daily al-Alam).

## Early life

He studied both at the University of Al-Karaouine in Fez and at the University of Cairo, where he took his M.A. in Arabic literature. He is the author of five novels and three collections of short stories. Among his best known novels are Sab'ab Atwat ("Seven Gates", 1965) and Dafann al-m'd ("We buried the past", 1966); the latter is praised as representative of a new school of writing called "nationalist realism". According to Simon Gikandi his Arabic style is known for its "graceful and at times scholarly classicism".

## Career

In 2000, the Union of Arab writers in Egypt included his novel Al-Mu`alîm `Ali (Master Alí) among the hundred best Arabic novels in history. In 2001, the Moroccan department of Culture published the complete works of Ghallab in five volumes. In 2004 he was awarded the Maghreb Culture prize of Tunis. His work has been translated in many languages.

Abdelkrim Ghallab died in El Jadida on August 14, 2017, aged 97.

