Gamal Ghitany, one of contemporary Arab literature’s greats, has died

The Egyptian author, age 70, visited Casa Árabe last June to present his book “The Call of the West.”

Ghitany was born and raised in southern Egypt, to a modest family still living under the monarchy of King Farouk. His first book of stories was published when he was just 17 years old, and after that he performed prolific work as a novelist, but also as a journalist, having witnessed all of the events to have marked Egypt’s fate, from its own independence to that of the entire region.

His committed voice got him put in jail under the Nasser regime, and he was later forbidden to publish for several years due to his criticism of President Sadat. His novels have been translated into the most important languages, above all “The Call of the West” and “Zayni Barakat.” In 1980, he received Egypt’s National Prize for Literature.

It was precisely on the occasion of the presentation of “The Call of the West” that he visited Casa Árabe on June 11 of this year. Here you can watch a video of this event (in Spanish), to pay homage to this great Egyptian intellectual.