Author of major books on decolonization and racism, novelist and essayist Albert Memmi, of Tunisian-Jewish origins died on May 22, in Paris, aged 99.
Memmi was born in Tunis, to a Tunisian Jewish Berber mother and a Tunisian-Italian Jewish father, he grew up speaking French and Tunisian-Judeo-Arabic During the Nazi occupation of Tunisia, Memmi was detained in a forced labour camp from which he later escaped.
Memmi’s well-regarded first novel, La statue de sel (translated as The Pillar of Salt), was published in 1953 with a preface by Albert Camus and was awarded the Fénéon Prize in 1954.] His other novels include Agar (translated as Strangers), Le Scorpion (The Scorpion), and Le Desert (The Desert).
Memmi’s associated sociological works involve Dominated Man, Dependence, and Racism.
Memmi wrote widely on Jewish identity, including Portrait of a Jew, Liberation of the Jew and Jews and Arabs.
He was also recognised for the Anthology of Maghrebian literature (written in collaboration) published in 1965 (vol. 1) and 1969 (vol. 2).
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