Driss Chraibi, 80; Moroccan novelist who wrote of Islam, women
Driss Chraibi, 80, a Moroccan novelist who wrote about Islam, colonialism and the treatment of women in his homeland, died Sunday night in southwest France, the MAP state news agency reported.
Chraibi was born in 1926 in El Jadida, a town near Casablanca on Morocco’s Atlantic coast. He moved to Paris in 1945 to study chemistry, and remained in France until his death. He wrote in French, his adopted tongue.
Chraibi worked as a chemical engineer, night watchman and laborer before his literary career began in 1954 with the publication of his first novel, “The Simple Life,” an autobiographical work attacking Islam and the treatment of women in Morocco’s taboo-laden society.
He wrote 18 more novels, most dealing with colonialism and Chraibi’s memories of Morocco.
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