Daughter of renowned Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz hails role of Kurdish culture

Art and Literature 02:03 PM - 2021-03-09

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Hoda Naguib Mahfouz, daughter of the renowned international Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz, expressed her high appreciation for the initiative of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) office in Cairo to honor her with two copies of the Kurdish book (Naguib Mahfouz, Writer Between East and West) by the Kurdish writer Ardalan Abdullah.

 

Dr. Mulla Yassin Raouf Rasul,  head of the PUK office in the Egyptian capital Cairo, met on Monday, with Hoda Naguib Mahfouz, daughter of the renowned international Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz in the Egyptian capital Cairo in the presence of the journalist Ibrahim Muhammad.

 

During her delivery of the book from Dr. Mulla Yassin Raouf Rasul, Hoda Naguib Mahfouz expressed her great thanks to the Kurdish intellectuals and translators who translated books and literature of her late father Naguib Mahfouz, indicating that this is evidence of the cultural and social awareness that the brothers carry in the Kurdistan Region.

 

Naguib Mahfouz was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature, along with Taha Hussein, to explore themes of existentialism.

 

Hoda Naguib Mahfouz said that she keeps the Nobel Prize Medal for Literature that her father received in 1988 because it is a personal gift from her father, adding that Naguib Mahfouz's possessions were subject to looting due to the insecurity after Egypt's January 25 revolution.

 

Hoda Naguib Mahfouz touched on the role of the region in which her late father was born, which is (Tkiyet Abu al-Dhahab) in the Gamalia neighborhood in the center of the Egyptian capital Cairo, where he drew inspiration for most of his characters and places of his novels.

 

Hoda Mahfouz said that the government and the Egyptian people honored her late father Naguib Mahfouz by dedicating a museum to his collections and books called (Naguib Mahfouz Museum and Creativity Center) in Tkiyet Abu al-Dhahab in the Gamalia neighborhood in Azhar.

 

For his part, Dr. Mulla Yassin Raouf Rasul, head of the PUK office in Cairo, confirmed that the late Naguib Mahfouz was a distinguished and creative figure in the cultural and literary field and has enriched by his writings literature and stories of societies and even westerners interested in peoples' cultures, as well as his films that embodied the Egyptian neighborhoods that inspired his creativity and interacted with the echoes of his rich and distinguished biography and his literary career, which constitute the leading sign in modern Arabic literature for academics, students, researchers and intellectuals in the Kurdistan Region, Arab and foreign countries because it is a source of generosity and creativity.

 

Dr. Mulla Yassin Raouf Rasul indicated that the nation’s late President Mam Jalal was very interested in cultural and literary works and he was always eager at the time to attend the cultural events held in Cairo for giants of literature and cultures, among them the late Naguib Mahfouz and the late Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, who is considered one of the most famous Egyptian and Arabs journalist of the twentieth century, where President Mam Jalal used to send him bouquets and responses in appreciation of his literary, cultural and press products.

 

The Head of the PUK office also touched on the glorious history of the Kurds throughout history and the geographical map of their distribution on Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria, their pioneering role in serving humanity and the societies in which they live, and their love for freedom, peace, and brotherhood with the peoples of the region.

 

He also referred to the issue of mixing, convergence, and harmony of cultures between societies and the role of the Kurds in this, mentioning the most prominent writers, scholars, and thinkers in the field of the Arabic language, culture, and arts, including Sibawayh, Ahmad Shawqi, Abbas Mahmoud al-Aqqad, and the Badrakhan family (Ali Badrakhan and Ahmad Badrakhan), the  (Hosni) family, and others.

 

Dr. Mulla Yassin Raouf Rasoul pointed to the many Egyptian families with Kurdish origins living in Egyptian cities and villages, and the most famous of Kurds who came to Egypt, among them the great hero Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi.

 

As for Muhammad Ali Pasha, the founder of modern Egypt, he is a Kurdish officer from Diyarbakir, who moved with the Turkish army to Albania and from there he came to Egypt. It is said that Nefertiti is a Kurd and that the Median state gave her to the Pharaohs to consolidate the relations between them. It is enough for Kurdistan that Sarah, the wife of Abraham, peace be upon them, is the mother of all nations who is also a Kurd.

 

At the end of the meeting, Dr. Mulla Yassin Raouf Rasul thanked and offered appreciation to Hoda Naguib Mahfouz for her response to this meeting, inviting her to visit the Kurdistan Region after the end of the Covid crisis, to closely examine the Kurdish culture and the goodness and authenticity of the Kurdish people.

 

 

 

PUKmedia