Mohammed Benzakour (born 10 January 1972 in

Nador Nador ( Riffian-Berber: ⵏⴰⴷⵓⵔ) is a coastal city and provincial capital in the northeastern Rif region of Morocco with a population of about 161,726 (2014 census). Nador city is separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a salt lagoon nam ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

) is a

Moroccan-Dutch Moroccans in the Netherlands (, , also known as Dutch-Moroccans or Moroccan-Dutch) are immigrants from Morocco to the Netherlands and their descendants. Migration history Moroccans were not much represented in the first major postwar wave of mi ...

columnist, essayist, poet, writer and politician. He is the third child in a family of five. At age three, he and mother and siblings settle in

Zwijndrecht, Netherlands Zwijndrecht () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands. It is located in the province of South Holland, at the southern tip of the island of IJsselmonde, and at the confluence of the rivers Oude Maas, Beneden-Merwede, and Noord. ...

, where his father worked. He graduated from high school at vwo level and studied sociology at Leiden University and later

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

and moved to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

to finish his master. Meanwhile, he joined the Labour Party. He started his journalism career working for '' De Volkskrant'' and also published in '' NRC Handelsblad'', ''

De Groene Amsterdammer ''De Groene Amsterdammer'' is an independent Dutch weekly news magazine published in Amsterdam and distributed throughout the Netherlands. It is conventionally considered to be one of the four major weeklies, alongside '' HP/De Tijd'', ''Vrij Nede ...

'' and ''

Vrij Nederland ''Vrij Nederland'' (Free Netherlands) is a Dutch magazine, established during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II as an underground newspaper. It has since grown into a magazine. The originally weekly and now monthly magazi ...

''. He received the ASN Media Prize in 1999 and the Silver Zebra in 2001 for insights in a 'society in motion'. He later published two books, ''Abou Jahjah: Nieuwlichter of Oplichter. De demonisering van een politiek rebel'' in 2004 and ''Osama's Grot, Allah, Holland en ik'', a compilation of his columns, articles and essays from 2001 until 2005, the year of publication. In that same year he also won the Peace Prize for Journalism. In 2008 his 'Stinkende Heelmeesters' was published, a compilation of essays, reviews, columns and reports from 2001 to 2008. In March 2014 he won the 2013 E. Du Perronprijs with his non-fictional novel ''Yemma'', about his mother. The jury writes. "His observations and feelings that come to him are both socially and general and personal and intimate. He makes his documentary a literary achievement of the first order." Benzakour gave the 2014

Mosse Lecture The Foundation George Mosse Fund of the University of Amsterdam (Stichting George Mosse Fonds van de Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a Dutch foundation (stichting) that aims to promote gay and lesbian studies. It was founded in 2001 at the Univer ...

, titled ''HoMa: Zwierige redder in nood'' (''HoMa: Graceful lifesaver'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benzakour, Mohammed 1972 births Living people Dutch columnists Dutch essayists Dutch journalists Dutch Muslims Dutch people of Riffian descent Dutch male poets Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Leiden University alumni Moroccan emigrants to the Netherlands Moroccan writers Moroccan columnists Moroccan essayists Moroccan journalists Berber poets People from Zwijndrecht, Netherlands People from Nador Male essayists