Kazim al-Samawi

Kazim al-Samawi
Kazim al-Samawi
	Al-Samawi, 1970s
Native name	كاظم السماوي
Born	Kazim Jasir Faraj; 1925; Samawah, Mandatory Iraq
Died	15 March 2010 (aged 85); Stockholm, Sweden
Resting place	Saiwan Cemetery, Sulaymaniyah
Occupation	Poet; journalist; writer;
Language	Arabic
Citizenship	Kingdom of Iraq (1925–1954); Iraqi Republic (1958–1968);

Kazim Jasir Faraj (Arabic: كاظم السماوي, romanized: Kāẓim al-Samāwī; 1925 – 15 March 2010), better known as Kazim al-Samawi, was an Iraqi poet and journalist known for his humanist worldview. From the 1950s, he spent more than half of his life in exile as a political refuge and was known by title "The Elder of the Iraqi exiles" or "The Shaykh of Exiles".^[1] He moved between many countries, such as Lebanon, Hungary, Germany, China, Syria and Cyprus until he finally settled in Sweden. Al-Samawi published his first poetry collection in 1950 and was as a result was persecuted by the Nuri al-Said government. Later, he and his family faced persecution in Ba'athist Iraq, and he experienced the death of almost all his family members, often in quick succession. Through his poetry in various forms, genres and metres, he was very involved in general human affairs.^[2] His family name is derived from his hometown demonym, Samawah. He studied in Baghdad and graduated from the Rural Teachers’ House in 1940, continued his higher studies in Hungary and graduated from the Faculty of Arts in 1956. He worked for a while in journalism in Baghdad with a progressive tendency, founded The Humanity in 1956, a twice-weekly leftist newspaper. He left about seven poetry collections that have been translated into several languages. Al-Samawi died at the age of 85 in Stockholm and was buried in Sulaymaniyah.^[3]^[4]^[5]

^ Cite error: The named reference almada was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Shararah, Abd al-Latif (1988). Waḥdat al-ʻArab fī al-shiʻr al-ʻArabī وحدة العرب في الشعر العربي دراسة ونصوص شعرية (in Arabic) (first ed.). Beirut, Lebanon: The Centre for Arab Unity Studies. p. 381.
^ Yaʻqub, Imil (2004). Muʻjam al-shuʻarāʼ : mundhu badʼ ʻaṣr al-Nahḍah معجم الشعراء منذ بدء عصر النهضة [Dictionary of poets since the beginning of Nahda] (in Arabic). Vol. 2 (first ed.). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Sader. p. 932 (407).
^ Al-Jaburi, Kamel Salman (2003). Mu'jam Al-Shu'ara' min Al-'Asr Al-Jahili Hatta Sanat 2002 معجم الشعراء من العصر الجاهلي حتى سنة 2002 [Dictionary of poets from the pre-Islamic era until 2002] (in Arabic). Vol. 4 (first ed.). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Al-Kotob Al-Ilmiyah. p. 215.
^ Matba'i, Hamid (1995). al-Mawsūʻat aʻlām al-ʻIrāq fī al-qarn al-ʻishrīn موسوعة اعلام العراق في القرن العشرين [Encyclopedia of eminents of Iraq in the twentieth century] (in Arabic). Vol. 1 (first ed.). Baghdad, Iraq: Dār al-Shuʼūn al-Thaqāfīyah al-ʻĀmmah. p. 169.

[almada-1] Cite error: The named reference almada was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[2] Shararah, Abd al-Latif (1988). Waḥdat al-ʻArab fī al-shiʻr al-ʻArabī وحدة العرب في الشعر العربي دراسة ونصوص شعرية (in Arabic) (first ed.). Beirut, Lebanon: The Centre for Arab Unity Studies. p. 381.

[3] Yaʻqub, Imil (2004). Muʻjam al-shuʻarāʼ : mundhu badʼ ʻaṣr al-Nahḍah معجم الشعراء منذ بدء عصر النهضة [Dictionary of poets since the beginning of Nahda] (in Arabic). Vol. 2 (first ed.). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Sader. p. 932 (407).

[Jaburi-4] Al-Jaburi, Kamel Salman (2003). Mu'jam Al-Shu'ara' min Al-'Asr Al-Jahili Hatta Sanat 2002 معجم الشعراء من العصر الجاهلي حتى سنة 2002 [Dictionary of poets from the pre-Islamic era until 2002] (in Arabic). Vol. 4 (first ed.). Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Al-Kotob Al-Ilmiyah. p. 215.

[5] Matba'i, Hamid (1995). al-Mawsūʻat aʻlām al-ʻIrāq fī al-qarn al-ʻishrīn موسوعة اعلام العراق في القرن العشرين [Encyclopedia of eminents of Iraq in the twentieth century] (in Arabic). Vol. 1 (first ed.). Baghdad, Iraq: Dār al-Shuʼūn al-Thaqāfīyah al-ʻĀmmah. p. 169.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]