Robert Assaraf ( ar, روبرت الصراف) (5 November 1936 in Rabat – 5 March 2018 in

Ramat HaSharon Ramat HaSharon ( he, רָמַת הַשָּׁרוֹן, ''lit.'' '' Sharon Heights'', ar, رمات هشارون) is a city located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon region, bordering Tel Aviv to the south, Hod HaSharon ...

) was a

Moroccan Jewish Moroccan Jews ( ar, اليهود المغاربة, al-Yahūd al-Maghāriba he, יהודים מרוקאים, Yehudim Maroka'im) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews b ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

. He resided between

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and Marrakesh,

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 ...

Personal life

Assaraf married Michelle Botbol, with whom he had two daughters - Tania and Yael. Tania gave birth to four of Robert's grandchildren - Omer Menashe, Daniel Menashe, Orian Menashe, and Emi-ly Menashe. Yael gave birth to Franck Elmaleh and Candice Elmaleh. In October of 2019 Robert's first great-grandson, Adam Robert Isaac Menashe, was born and was named after Robert.

Career

Assaraf began his career in the cabinet of the Ministry of the Interior of Morocco. He then joined the

ONA Group The ONA Group (Omnium Nord-Africain, Arabic: مجموعة أونا) was established in 1934 and dissolved in 2010 and succeeded by Societe Nationale d'Investissement. ONA was an industrial, financial and services conglomerate, focused on posit ...

, where he became the General Director and Delegate Administrator, until his retirement in 1990. In 1996 he established the ''Centre International de Recherche sur les Juifs du Maroc'' and co-founded ''l’Union mondiale du judaïsme marocain'' in 1999. He was the President of the Worldwide Moroccan Jewish Union. Assaraf was also the president of Radio Shalom and was the vice-president of the French magazine ''

Marianne Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. Marianne is displayed in ...

,'' until 2005 when he sold his shares to Yves de Chaisemartin. In his lifetime, Assaraf published a number of books the Jewish population of Morocco and the contemporary politics of Israel. A historical survey of the Jewish population in Morocco was published in 2005. In September 2008 he published a survey of the emigration and the Diaspora of the Moroccan Jews. Towards the end of his life Assaraf relocated to

in Israel, where he died on 5 March 2018.

Books

* ''Juifs du Maroc à travers le monde : Émigration et Identité Retrouvée''. Preface by Patrick Girard (Suger Press, 2008) * ''Ariel Sharon et ses Batailles Politiques'' (2006) * ''Une Certaine Histoire des Juifs du Maroc : 1860-1999'' (2005) * ''Le Drame d'Israël: de la paix à la guerre'' (2001) * ''Une Crise des Hommes; Israël, 1995-1999'' (Plon, 1999) * ''Mohammed V et les Juifs du Maroc à l'époque de Vichy'' (Plon, 1997)

References

External links

*
A short biography
*
Mohammed V et les Juifs du Maroc à l'époque de Vichy
' online at BNF. 1936 births 2018 deaths Jewish Moroccan politicians Moroccan emigrants to France Jewish writers Jewish historians Writers from Rabat Writers from Paris 20th-century Moroccan historians 20th-century Moroccan Jews {{Judaism-bio-stub