Anwar Shaul

Anwar Shaul
אנואר שאול‎ أنور شاؤول‎
Born	1904 Hillah, Ottoman Empire (now Iraq)
Died	1984(1984-00-00) (aged 79–80) Israel
Nationality	Israeli
Occupations	Journalist author poet
Years active	1924–1984

Anwar Shaul (Hebrew: אנואר שאול; Arabic: أنور شاؤول; 1904–1984) was an Iraqi-Israeli journalist, publisher, author, translator, and poet.

Early life and education

Shaul was born in Hillah to a family of Iraqi Jews. He was of Mizrahi descent on his father's side (Iraqi-Jewish) and of second-generation Ashkenazi descent on his mother's side (Austrian-Jewish). He originally trained as a lawyer at the Baghdad Law College, graduating in 1931.

Career

Shaul served as editor of the Iraqi Zionist journal Al-Miṣbāḥ (אל-מצבאח; المصباح) from 1924 to 1925. In his contributions to the publication, he wrote under the pseudonym "Ibn al-Samaw'al" in an allusion to the 6th-century Arabian-Jewish poet Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya.

From 1929 to 1938, Shaul founded and worked as an editor for Al-Hassid (الحاصد lit. 'The Reaper'), a weekly literary magazine. It featured significant political commentary; mixing harsh criticism of European fascism and advocacy for both Iraqi nationalism and complete political independence from the British Empire. Under his editorial leadership, Al-Hassid became the foremost weekly magazine in Baghdad.

In addition to his publication of periodicals, Shaul published a number of longer works, including memoirs, translations of Western literature into Arabic, as well as anthologies of short stories and Arabic poetry.

Immigration to Israel

In 1971, Shaul, who had long been resistant to emigrating despite intensive state-sponsored antisemitism in Iraq, reluctantly made aliyah. He continued to live in Israel until his death in 1984.