Naim Araidi ( ar, نعيم عرايدي, he, נעים עריידי; April 2, 1950 – October 2, 2015) was an

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

academic and writer known for his poems in both

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Education

Araidi was born in

Maghar, Israel Maghar ( ar, المغار, he, מַעָ'אר, also al-Maghar or Mghar; lit. ''the caves'') is a city of mixed population of Muslims, Christians, and Druze in Israel's Northern District (Israel), Northern District with an area of 19,810 dunams. Ma ...

and completed his elementary school in his village, then moved to

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

to complete his secondary education. He went on to gain B.A in Hebrew language and Political Science and another B.A in

Hebrew Literature Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews. Hebrew literature was pro ...

and

Comparative Literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

. Then he gained a M.A in Hebrew Literature and Comparative Literature at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

. This was followed with a Ph.D in Hebrew Literature from

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

. His doctoral thesis was on the poetry of

Uri Zvi Greenberg Uri Zvi Greenberg ( he, אוּרִי צְבִי גְּרִינְבֵּרְג; September 22, 1896 – May 8, 1981; also spelled Uri Zvi Grinberg) was an acclaimed Modern Hebrew poetry, Israeli poet, journalist and politician who wrote in Yiddish ...

Work and writing career

He served as an instructor and a lecturer in both the University of Haifa and Bar-Ilan University. Then he moved to Gordon College and the Arab College for Education in Israel. He then served as the Director of the Children's Literature center at the Arab College as well as the coordinator of Studies for the Non-Jewish students at Gordon College. Dr. Naim presented two weekly programmes on Channel 2, a children's programme and a news programme. He also established "''Al-Sewar''" magazine. He held many public positions and participated in a large number of international festivals for writing and poetry. Many of Araidi's published works appear in translation. For the first time in Italy in 2014 an anthology of his poems was published by Seam Edizioni. The first edition was presented during the roman poetical twinning with

Ottobre in Poesia The ''International Literary Prize of the city of Sassari'' takes place during the festival ''Ottobre in Poesia''. This event is held annually in the city of Sassari in the month of October. Knowing the festival The Festival Ottobre in Poesia ...

, Il Tempo: Cultura, veicolo di pace tra israeliani e palestinesi. in 2013. The second edition occasioned a tour organized by the same publisher and poets Uke Bucpapaj

Beppe Costa Beppe Costa (born Concetto Costa, on , Catania, Italy) is an Italian poet, novelist and publisher. Biography The beginning Born into a poor family grows, however, in an environment rich in books. He published the first volume of poems in 19 ...

, Stefania Battistella who translated the work.
Corriere della Sera: Naim Araidi, le mille voci del Medio Oriente.
Euronews: torna in italia il grande poeta Naim Araidi.

Nissan Festival

Araidi established the Nissan organization for Literature in 1999. The international Nissan Festival is held annually in April in Maghar.

Ambassadorship

In April 2012, Araidi was supposed to serve as List of Israeli ambassadors, Israeli ambassador to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. In June, that decision was changed and he was instead appointed as ambassador to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

where he served until 2014, when he resigned after allegations of “inappropriate behaviour.”Ambassador left under a cloud
February 24, 2014, News in English.no

Published works

In Hebrew

*''Is Love Possible'' *''In Five Dimensions'' *''Soldier of Water'' *''Perhaps it Love'' *''Back to the Village'' *''Compassion and Fear''

In Arabic

*''Devils and Graves'' *''As Illusions of Land'' *''As Illusion of the Sun'' *''Alone'' *''Hope is Forever'' *''Songs of the Carmel in Maritime Love''

In Italian

*''Canzoni di Galilea'' , Seam Ed. (2013, 2° ed. 2014)

Prizes and awards

*Prime Minister's Award for Hebrew Literature, 1986 *Creative award for Arabic Literature *Senate of Paris Award, 1990 *Honorary doctorate, The International Center for Poetry, USA, 1991 *Prize awarded by "Omanut La'am for the Promotion of Culture in Israel", 1993

References

External links

official websitesite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Araidi, Naim Israeli poets 1950 births 2015 deaths Israeli Druze University of Haifa alumni Bar-Ilan University faculty University of Haifa faculty Ambassadors of Israel to Norway People from Maghar Bar-Ilan University alumni