Tharwat Abaza

Tharwat Abaza
Tharwat Abaza with Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz
Born
Tharwat Disuqi Abaza

(1927-06-28)June 28, 1927
DiedMarch 17, 2002(2002-03-17) (aged 74)
Occupations
  • Newspaper columnist
  • writer
  • playwright

Tharwat Abaza (Arabic: ثروت أباظة, romanized: Tharwat Abāża; June 28, 1927 – March 17, 2002) was an Egyptian journalist, newspaper columnist, playwright, and novelist known as the "Knight of the Arabic Novel."[1][2][3]

Career

At 16 years old, Abaza published his first work under a pseudonym, an article criticizing his Arabic teacher.[1] In 1950, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in law from Cairo University and married his cousin, daughter of the Egyptian poet Aziz Abaza.[1][4] Abaza then wrote plays and short stories for Egyptian State Broadcasting. In the late 1960s, Abaza's novel A Man Escaping from Time was made into a TV series.[3]

Abaza joined an international writers' union in London in 1971.[1] Abaza was also dropped from the Arab Socialist Union in 1971. He became treasurer of the a writers' protection society and eventually became editor-in-chief of the TV and Radio Magazine in 1974.[5] He then became a literary adviser for the state-run Cinema, Stage, and Music Organization.

Abaza was a member of the Majlis al-Shura.[2] From 1975 to 1988, he was also the editor of the Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Ahram.[6] He became secretary-general of the Egyptian Writers Union and then its president in 1980.[1] Abaza resigned from his presidency in April 1997.[1] He was elected vice president of the Egyptian Senate.

Abaza's best-known novel, A Man Escaping from Time, was turned into an Egyptian television series in the late 1960s, and A Taste of Fear, a short story which was turned into an Egyptian film in the late 1960s.[7][6]

A journalist for Al Arabi newspaper was sentenced to prison for six months due to alleged defamation to Abaza.[8]

His works tended to discuss Egyptian country life, the Egyptian aristocratic class, class strife, and generational differences.[2][5]

In 1965, a film was made of his work Escaping from the Days, directed by Houssam El-Din Mustafa and starring Farid Shawqi and Mahmoud Al-Maliji. In 1969, a film was made of his work A Taste of Fear, directed by Hussein Kamal.[9]

Personal life

Abaza and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.

Abaza was born on June 28, 1927, in the Mounira district of Cairo.[1] His father was Ibrahim Disuqi Abaza, and his mother was a cousin of Fekry Abaza. Abaza grew up a member of the literary and aristocratic family, the Abaza family, and attended government schools.[1][5]

Abaza was a public critic of Nasserism.[5] Due to his political differences with the Nasser regime, his literary contributions may have been disregared.[5]

Abaza died on March 17, 2002, aged 74, in Cairo, after a malignant stomach disease.[2][10]

Works

  • Ibn Ammar
  • Life for Us
  • (1967) Shay' min al-Khawf (شيء من الخوف);[11] English translation: A Touch of Fear (1992)[12]
  • Dreams at Noon Time
  • (1959) Harib min al-'Ayam (Escaping from the Days) (هارب من الأيام)
  • Pearls and Oysters
  • Fog and a Palace on the Nile
  • Tariq from the Sky
  • Forgiveness
  • Then the Sun Rises

Awards

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Goldschmidt Jr, Arthur (2000). Biographical Dictionary of Modern Egypt. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 1. ISBN 978-1-55587-229-8.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Tharwat Abaza, 75; Egyptian Newspaper Columnist, Writer". Los Angeles Times. 19 March 2002. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Friday Films: 'A Touch of Fear,' based on a novella by Tharwat Abaza". ArabLit. 10 June 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  4. ↑ حبيب, عبد الرحمن (17 March 2026). "ذكرى رحيل ثروت أباظة.. لمحات من حياته وذكرياته مع حى المنيرة" [The anniversary of the departure of Tharwat Abaza; scenes of his life and memories with the Munira neighborhood]. Youm7. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tharwat Abaza". State Information Service. Retrieved 22 April 2026.
  6. 1 2 'Tharwat Abaza, 75; Egyptian Newspaper Columnist, Writer', LA Times, 19 March 2002.
  7. ↑ A Taste of Fear (1969), retrieved 7 December 2021
  8. ↑ Gamal M. Selim (2015). The International Dimensions of Democratization in Egypt: The Limits of Externally-Induced Change. Springer International Publishing. p. 68. ISBN 978-3-319-16700-8.
  9. ↑ "Bit of Fear". IMDb. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "الأديب المصري ثروت أباظة في ذمة الله" [The Egyptian writer is rich in the care of God]. Al-Jazeera. 17 March 2002. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  11. ↑ Khalifah, Omar (2017). Nasser in the Egyptian Imaginary. Edinburgh Studies in Modern Arabic Literature. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-4744-1019-9.
  12. ↑ Abaza, Tharwat (1992). A Touch of Fear. Translated by Basil, Rafik. General Egyptian Book Organization. ISBN 9789770129234.
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