Memoirs of Najati Sidqi (1905-1979)

Najati Sidqi was born in Jerusalem into a middle class family and educated in the city's school. He was one of the very few Palestinians to graduate from Moscow University (1925). At 14, he accompanied his father to the Hijaz, Syria, and Egypt, then returned to Jerusalem and began working for the postal and telegraph service. This marked the beginning of what he calls the "political phase" of his life. As a loyal party member he carried out an extraordinary range of assignments which took him to Tashkent in the East and Spain in the West. He writes: "I hid this period of my political life for nearly thirty seven years…". About the second phase of his life, he writes that "it pertains to literature, writing, translation, broadcasting, and composing radio plays and short stories. A selection of this writing has been published in thirteen volumes …".