Naim Kattan

Naïm Kattan was a Canadian writer of Iraqi Jewish origin. He spent his childhood and youth in Baghdad, where he witnessed the Farhud, a violent pogrom against the Jewish community in 1941. He left Iraq in 1947 to study literature at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he was influenced by French culture and literature. He moved to Montreal in 1954, where he became a prominent figure in the Quebec literary scene. He wrote a literary column in Le Devoir, founded the Bulletin du Cercle juif, and headed the writing and publishing division of the Canada Council for the Arts. He also taught at the Université du Québec à Montréal. He wrote more than 30 books, including novels, essays, and memoirs, that explored themes such as identity, exile, memory, and culture. His most famous work is Farewell, Babylon, a fictionalized account of his life in Jewish Baghdad. His books have been translated into several languages and have received many awards and honors. He was a member of the Royal Society of Canada, an Officer of the Order of Canada, a Knight of the National Order of Quebec, a Knight of the Legion of Honour, and a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters. He died in Paris on July 2, 2021, at the age of 92.