Renowned Lebanese novelist, writer, literary critic and academic Elias Khoury passed away on Sunday, September 15, 2024, at the age of 76, after battling gastrointestinal illness that had kept him in the hospital for several months.

Khoury was a recipient of the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Award in the field of story, novel, and play during its tenth session. The award cited him as “one of the Arab novelists who use the novel as a means of both pleasure and knowledge, in a growing body of work that accumulates art and achievement within a modernist vision that embraces both Arab and international heritage. Elias Khoury had the ability to monitor and capture the transformations of his society and era through a form that blends heritage with modern narration, evolving the language of the novel from the essence of speech and oral dialogue.”

Born in Beirut in 1948, Elias Khoury studied history at the Lebanese University and earned his doctorate in social history from Paris. He published his first novel (The Circle Meeting) in 1975 and wrote the screenplay for the 1977 film (The Little Mountain), which focused on the Lebanese civil war.

Among his most notable works are “The Journey of Little Gandhi”, “The Kingdom of Strangers”, and “Yalu”. His novel “Gate of the Sun”, known in Arabic as “Bab Al Shams” retold the lives of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and was later adapted into a film by Egyptian director Yousry Nasrallah.

Khoury authored dozens of novels, many of which have been translated into various languages, in addition to writing screenplays, plays and critical essays. He worked as an editor for several Lebanese newspapers and served as the editor-in-chief of the weekly cultural supplement of the Lebanese daily An-Nahar.

He also co-edited several prominent magazines and newspapers, including Palestinian Affairs, AlCarmel, and As-Safir. Additionally, he served as the artistic director of the Beirut Theatre and co-directed the September Festival of Contemporary Arts.

He has also been a visiting professor at prestigious universities in the United States, the Arab world, and Europe, including New York University in 2006.

Khoury was mourned by writers and artists from various Arab countries, including Lebanese historian Fawaz Traboulsi, Syrian cartoonist Saad Hajo, and Egyptian poet Zine El Abidine Fouad. Yousry Nasrallah, who adapted Khoury’s novel Bab Al Shams into a film, wrote: “We are united by our love for life, for justice, for beauty, and for Palestine. Goodbye, my friend, Elias.”