Driss Chraïbi

He viewed himself as an anarchist, writing on issues such as immigration, patriarchy and the relation between the west and the Arab world.

• Name — Driss Chraïbi • Born — 15 July 1926 • Birthplace — El Jadida, Morocco • Died — 1 April 2007 • Place of death — Valence, France • Occupation — Novelist • Language — French • Period — 1954–2004

Driss Chraïbi was born to a merchant family in El Jadida but was later raised in Casablanca. He attended the 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 abandoned science before the doctorate. Instead, he earned his living from a string of odd jobs, before turning to literature and journalism. He produced programmes for France Culture, frequented poets, taught Maghrebian literature at Laval University in Quebec and devoted himself to writing. In 1955, he married Catherine Birckel, with whom he had five children. In 1978, he remarried with Sheena McCallion, a Scotswoman, with whom he also had five children. He 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. A page turns with the death of his father in 1957. The writer, in exile in France, went beyond the revolt against his father and established a new dialogue with him beyond the grave in Succession ouverte (1962), translated as Heirs to the Past.

He died in Drôme, France., where he had lived since 1988, and was buried in the Shuhada Cemetery, Casablanca, Morocco, near his father's grave, thus fulfilling his last wishes. He took with him to the hereafter the secret of the last book he was working on.

His first novel, Le passé simple was published in 1954. Its English translation by Hugh Harter The Simple Past, was reissued in 2020 by NYRB Classics, with an introduction by Adam Shatz. Other works by Driss Chraïbi: • The Butts (1955) - Les Boucs (1955; The Butts), translated by Hugh A. Harter, shifted the author's accusatory finger from a paternalistic Islamic formalism to the oppressed condition of many North Africans living in France. • From All Horizons (1958). Title in French: De tous les horizons. • The Donkey (1956) L'âne, and The Crowd (1961) La Foule; both confront the inadequacies of the newly independent Third World countries, as well as the failings of European civilization. • Heirs to the Past (1962) Original title: Succession ouverte. The English translation by Len Ortzen was published by Heinemann in 1972. • A Friend Is Coming to See You (1967). The weaknesses of Western values appear most noticeably in Un Ami viendra vous voir (1967; “”), in which Chraïbi combines the themes of insanity, violence, and the oppression of women. • Mother Comes of Age (1972). Original title in French: La Civilisation, ma Mère!.... Translated into English by Hugh Harter. • Mort au Canada (1975). "Death in Canada" • Flutes of Death (1981) Original title: Une enquête au pays. English translation by Robin Roosevelt • Mother Spring (1982) Original title La Mère du Printemps. English translation by Hugh Harter. • Birth at Dawn (1986) Original title Naissance à l'aube. English translation by Ann Woollcombe. • Inspector Ali (1991) Original title L'inspecteur Ali. English translation by Lara McGlashan. • Une place au soleil (1993) "A Place in the Sun" • L'Homme du Livre (1994). Translated into English under the title of Muhammad, a novel by Nadia Benabid, published by Lynne Rienner. • L'inspecteur Ali à Trinity College (1996). "Inspector Ali at Trinity College" • L'inspecteur Ali et la C.I.A (1997) "Inspector Ali and the CIA" • Vu, lu, entendu (1998). Memoir, 1st volume. "Seen, read, heard" • Le monde à côté (2001). Memoir, 2nd volume. "The world next door" • L'homme qui venait du passé (2004). "The Man who came from the past" Chraïbi also wrote several children's books.

He died in southeastern Drôme, France on April 1, 2007, and was buried in Casablanca.

Driss Chraïbi is recorded as writer, novelist, journal of biological chemistry, radio personality and university teacher.