Historical Archives & Public Figures

محمد شكري

Morocco

1935 – 2003 (68 years old)

Rifian Moroccan literary icon who grew up illiterate on the streets of Tangier, learned to read and write at age twenty in prison, and authored the raw international autobiographical masterpiece 'For Bread Alone' (Al-Khubz al-Hafi).

Tangier, Morocco

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Literature & Poetry

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Carol Shields

United States

2 June 1935 – 16 July 2003 (68 years old)

Beloved Canadian novelist whose masterpiece The Stone Diaries won the Pulitzer Prize and Governor General's Award, illuminating women's everyday lives.

Victoria, Canada

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Literature & Poetry

34

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Mohammed Dib

محمد ديب

Algeria

1920 – 2003 (82 years old)

One of Algeria's most prolific and poetic writers, whose realist 'Algerian Trilogy' (La Grande Maison, L'Incendie, Le Métier à tisser) exposed the raw social misery and peasant awakening under colonial rule.

Yvelines, France

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Literature & Poetry

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Timothy Findley

Tiff Findley

Canada

30 October 1930 – 21 June 2002 (71 years old)

Eminent Canadian novelist and playwright whose masterpiece The Wars exposed the psychological trauma and animal vulnerability of human conflict.

Toronto, Canada

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Literature & Poetry

28

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Kaifi Azmi

कैफ़ी आज़मी

India

1919 – 2002 (83 years old)

Urdu poet and lyricist of the Progressive Writers' Movement whose revolutionary poem Aurat championed female emancipation, and who transformed his impoverished native village of Mijwan.

Azamgarh (Uttar Pradesh), India

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Literature & Poetry

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Astrid Lindgren

Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren

Sweden

1907-11-14 – 2002-01-28 (94 years old)

World-renowned Swedish author whose beloved creations, including 'Pippi Longstocking', 'Ronia the Robber's Daughter', and 'The Brothers Lionheart', sold over 165 million copies in 100 languages.

Vimmerby, Sweden

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Literature & Poetry

29

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Léopold Sédar Senghor

Senegal

1906 – 2001 (95 years old)

Senegalese poet, philosopher, statesman, and first President of Senegal who co-founded the Négritude movement and became the first African elected to the Académie Française.

Dakar, Senegal

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Literature & Poetry

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Mongo Beti

Alexandre Biyidi Awala

Cameroon

1932-06-30 – 2001-10-07 (69 years old)

One of Africa's most fearless and influential novelists whose anti-colonial masterpieces 'The Poor Christ of Bomba' and 'Mission to Kala' fiercely challenged both imperialism and neocolonial regimes.

Akometam, Cameroon

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Literature & Poetry

28

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Jorge Amado

Jorge Leal Amado de Faria

Brazil

1912 – 2001 (88 years old)

Foremost Brazilian novelist whose colorful, sensual chronicles of Afro-Bahian culture in Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon and Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands captivated the world.

Salvador da Bahia, Brazil

28 Full Record →

Literature & Poetry

18

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Mohamed Zefzaf

محمد زفزاف

Morocco

1945 – 2001 (56 years old)

Revered Moroccan novelist and master of the Arabic short story whose humble, poetic realism captured the lives of dockers, prostitutes, and forgotten dreamers in Casablanca.

Casablanca, Morocco

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Literature & Poetry

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Mordecai Richler

Canada

1931 – 2001 (70 years old)

Acerbic, world-renowned Montreal novelist and satirist whose masterpieces The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, St. Urbain's Horseman, and Barney's Version captured Mile End Jewish life.

Montreal, Canada

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Literature & Poetry

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Tove Jansson

Tove Marika Jansson

Finland

1914-08-09 – 2001-06-27 (86 years old)

Beloved Finland-Swedish author, illustrator, and painter who created the whimsical and philosophical world of the Moomins and wrote adult masterpieces like Sommarboken (The Summer Book).

Helsinki, Finland

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Literature & Poetry

17

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Khalifa al-Fakhri

خليفة الفاخري

Libya

1942 – June 18, 2001 (59 years old)

Exquisite Libyan short-story writer and prose stylist whose melancholic, poetic narratives explored the existential solitude of man, the nostalgia for childhood, and the fragile dignity of the vulnerable.

Benghazi, Libya

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Literature & Poetry

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Ahmad Shamlou

احمد شاملو

Iran

12 December 1925 – 23 July 2000 (74 years old)

Colossal modern Persian poet known by his pen name 'Bamdad', creator of blank verse (She'r-e Sepid) and compiler of the massive 'Ketab-e Kucheh'.

Karaj, Iran

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Literature & Poetry

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Al Purdy

Alfred Wellington Purdy

Canada

1918 – 2000 (81 years old)

One of Canada's greatest working-class poets, whose 1965 collection The Cariboo Horses won the Governor General's Award and whose iconic A-frame cabin in Ameliasburgh became a national literary sanctuary.

Ameliasburgh (Prince Edward County, Ontario), Canada

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Literature & Poetry

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Anne Hébert

Canada

1916 – 2000 (83 years old)

Brilliant Quebec poet and novelist whose chilling novella Le Torrent, poetry collection Le Tombeau des rois, and historical novel Kamouraska earned her three Governor General's Awards and France's Prix des Libraires.

Quebec City, Canada

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Literature & Poetry

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