Journal of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
No.16, Spring  2008


 

ISRAEL PRIZE LAUREATE PROFESSOR SOMEKH

 

Prof. Sasson Somekh

Prof. Sasson Somekh was awarded the Israel Prize in 2005. One of the founders of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at Tel-Aviv University, Prof. Somekh was born in Baghdad in 1933, into a cultured family. After graduating from the Jewish high school “Sammash” in Baghdad he came on aliyah to Israel with his family in 1951. After his marriage in 1965 he went to England to study linguistics. A year later, following Tel-Aviv University’s decision to found a Department of Arabic Language and Literature, he returned to Israel and took part in setting up the new department.

Throughout his career at Tel-Aviv University, where he eventually became a full professor, Somekh published numerous studies on Arabic literature. His book of memoirs, Baghdad Yesterday, has been translated into Arabic and English. In the years 1995-1998 he served as the head of the Israeli Academic Center in Cairo, a position which made it possible for him to forge ties with prominent Egyptian men of letters.

The judges who decided to award Prof. Somekh the Israel Prize, Profs. Gad Gilber, Michael Winter and Boaz Sasson, gave the following reasons for their decision: “Prof. Sasson Somekh is one of the greatest experts on Arabic literature in our day. His studies constitute an important message in this broad domain, expressing a fascinating combination of scholarly linguistic analysis and poetic artistic criticism.

“His works have appeared in the most prestigious academic publications. They deal with the language of prose writing, poetry and drama in the works of Egyptian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Moroccan and Palestinian authors. His books on two Egyptian writers, Nageeb Mahfuz (Nobel Prize for literature) and Yusuf Idris are particularly well known. His scholarly achievements have received worldwide recognition. Many of his works have been translated into Arabic.

“Prof. Somekh attaches great importance into making the fruits of Arabic prose and poetry available to the Hebrew-reading public. He has translated into Hebrew and edited a number of collections of modern Arabic poetry. These translations were highly praised for their extraordinarily high quality.

“Prof. Somekh has worked hard to foster relations among academics and between Hebrew and Arabic writers, Egyptians in particular. He is among the founders of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature at Tel-Aviv University; many of his students there follow in his footsteps in teaching and research, at universities in Israel and abroad”.