Tahar Ben Jelloun
1 December 1944 – present
Tahar Ben Jelloun is a Moroccan novelist, poet and essayist who writes in French. He settled in Paris in the early 1970s and won the Prix Goncourt in 1987 for La Nuit sacrée, becoming the first Maghrebi writer to receive the prize. His work addresses migration, identity and repression in Morocco and in France.
Lived at the same time
Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Tahar Ben Jelloun.
- Ada Yonath (1939–2026) Overlapped 82 years →
- Adonis (1930–present) Overlapped 82 years →
- Alex Ferguson (1941–present) Overlapped 82 years →
- Ali Khamenei (1939–2026) Overlapped 82 years →
- Arvo Pärt (1935–present) Overlapped 82 years →
- Asha Bhosle (1933–2026) Overlapped 82 years →
Life events
Ben Jelloun was born in Fez and later moved with his family to Tangier.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe read philosophy at the university in Rabat during the 1960s.
Following the 1965 student demonstrations he was conscripted and held in a disciplinary camp for eighteen months.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe left Morocco for France, where he continued his studies and began writing for Le Monde.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThe novel, set in Fez and Tangier, established his reputation in French letters.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHis research on the emotional and sexual difficulties of North African migrant workers informed later essays.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThe novel about a girl raised as a boy in Morocco brought him an international readership.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgThe sequel to The Sand Child won France's leading literary prize.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe received the award for Cette aveuglante absence de lumière, a novel drawn from testimony about the Tazmamart prison.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHe joined the jury that awards the Prix Goncourt.
Source: en.wikipedia.org