Fouad al-Tikerly

Fouad al-Tikerly (August 22, 1927 – February 11, 2008) was a prominent Iraqi novelist and writer, who was, perhaps, best known for his groundbreaking novel, al-Rajea al-Baeed, which is translated to The Long Way Back.^[1] Al-Tikerly was one of the last surviving members of a group of well known Iraqi novelists from the 1970s era.^[1]

Al-Tikerly was born in Baghdad in 1927.^[2] In school, he was friends with Abdul-Wahab al-Bayati. He graduated from the University of Baghdad's law school in 1949.^[1] He was employed at the Ministry of Justice of Iraq for 35 years.^[1] He became an Iraqi judge in 1956 before later becoming the head judge of the city of Baghdad's Court of Appeals.^[1] Al-Tikerly developed a reputation for fairness as a judge.^[1]

Al-Tikerly moved to Paris, France, in 1964 in order to attend postgraduate law school.^[1] He later returned to France briefly during the 1980s.^[1] Al-Tikerly retired from the law in 1983 in order to devote more time to his novels.^[1]

Al-Tikerly published his most noted novel, al-Rajea al-Baeed (The Long Way Back), during the 1970s.^[1] The novel depicted the suffering and trials afflicting four generations of a Baghdad family under several oppressive Iraqi government regimes in the years after the fall of the Iraqi monarchy, including that of Saddam Hussein.^[1] Al-Tikerly's novel was one of the few to openly criticize the Iraqi government without punishment.^[1] Al-Tikerly had no political affiliation, and was not connected to the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party or the regime of Saddam Hussein.^[1]

Al-Tikerly moved to Tunisia in 1990 after the death of his wife.^[1] He later remarried to a Tunisian woman.^[1]

The government of the United Arab Emirates awarded al-Tikerly with the Owais Prize for Arabic-language novels and literature in 2000.^[1]

Death

Fouad al-Tikerly died of pancreatic cancer at a hospital in Amman, Jordan, on February 11, 2008, at the age of 81.^[1] He and his family had been living in Jordan for the previous three years in order to escape the violence which swept Iraq following the 2003 Iraq War.^[1] He was survived by his Tunisian wife and novelist as well 'Rachida Turki' and their son and three daughters from an earlier marriage.^[1]

President Jalal Talabani praised al-Tikerly "as an author and judge as well a president's adviser after the tyrant regime was ousted."^[1]

References