Patrick Abram Seale (7 May 1930 – 11 April 2014) was a British journalist and author who specialised in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. A former correspondent for ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', he interviewed many Middle Eastern leaders and personalities. Seale was also a

literary agent A literary agent is an agent who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers, film producers, and film studios, and assists in sale and deal negotiation. Literary agents most often represent novelists, screenwrit ...

and

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationshi ...

Background

Patrick Abram SealeTim Llewellyn
Obituary: Patrick Seale
''The Guardian'', 13 April 2014 was a

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

-born journalist. His father was Morris Siegel Seale (1896–1993), the

Arabist An Arabist is someone, often but not always from outside the Arab world, who specialises in the study of the Arabic language and culture (usually including Arabic literature). Origins Arabists began in medieval Muslim Spain, which lay on the ...

and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, who was a Jewish convert to Presbyterianism and Christian missionary in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, where Patrick spent most of his first 14 years. He attended Balliol and

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economic ...

, where he specialised in

Middle Eastern history The Middle East, interchangeable with the Near East, is home to one of the Cradles of Civilization and has seen many of the world's oldest cultures and civilizations. The region's history started from the earliest human settlements and continues ...

. He obtained his D.Litt. at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. His sister was the fashion designer Thea Porter.

Career

His journalistic experience includes six years with

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

, mainly as a financial journalist, and over twelve with ''

'', covering the Middle East, Africa, and India. Based in France, Seale was syndicated by Agence Global. His columns appeared in most major newspapers around the world, and were carried weekly by several newspapers, including ''

Al-Hayat Al-Hayat ( ar, الحياة meaning "Life") was a London-based, pan-Arab newspaper owned by Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan, that had a circulation estimated over 200,000. It was the newspaper of record for the Arab diaspora and the preferred v ...

'' (London), ''

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad (Arabic: الاتحاد "The Union"), sometimes transliterated as Al-Etihad or Al-Ettihad may refer to: Sports Football Libya *Al-Ittihad Club (Tripoli), a football club based in Bab Ben Gashier * Al Ittihad Gheryan, a football club bas ...

'' (

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

), '' The Daily Star'' (

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

), ''

The Saudi Gazette Saudi Gazette is an English-language daily newspaper launched in 1976 and published in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is only available online, as the print version was discontinued in 2019. It is the second English-language daily newspaper in Saudi ...

'' (

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

) and ''

Gulf News ''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was first launched in 1978, and is currently distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf Countries. Its online edition was launch ...

'' (

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

Personal life and death

Seale married twice. First to Lamorna Heath in 1971 (died 1978) by whom he had two children, Orlando and Delilah. His second wife, the writer and broadcaster

Rana Kabbani Rana Kabbani ( ar, رنا قباني; born 1958) is a British Syrian cultural historian, writer and broadcaster who lives in London. Most famous for her works ''Imperial Fictions: Europe's Myths of the Orient'' (1994) and ''Letter to Christendom ...

, was the mother of his younger children, Alexander and Yasmine. Patrick Seale died aged 83 on 11 April 2014 in London from

brain cancer A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secondar ...

Works

Seale authored numerous books, including: * ''The Struggle for Syria'' (1965) * ''French Revolution 1968'' (1968) * ''

Philby Philby can refer to the following people * St John Philby a British intelligence officer and explorer * His son Kim Philby, a KGB mole double agent inside the United Kingdom's MI6 * Philby (The Kingdom Keepers), Philby (''The Kingdom Keepers'') ...

, the Long Road to Moscow'' (1973) * ''The Hilton Assignment'' (1973) * ''Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East'' (1988) * ''Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire'' (1992) * ''The Struggle for Arab Independence: Riad el-Solh and the Makers of the Modern Middle East'' (2010)

References

External links

A candid conversation with Patrick Seale
''SAST REPORT''; accessed 13 April 2014
Interview broadcast on RFI
25 July 2009; accessed 13 April 2014 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seale, Patrick 1930 births 2014 deaths Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Alumni of St Antony's College, Oxford British male journalists British non-fiction writers Literary agents Deaths from brain cancer in England Journalists from Belfast