Writer and scholar Shimon Ballas dies

 The death in Israel has been announced, after a long battle with Alzheimer's, of the prize-winning writer and scholar Shimon Ballas, 89.
 

 Shimon Ballas was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1930, and immigrated to Israel in 1951. He published stories and essays in the local Arab press for several years. Later, he spent four years in Paris, where he received his PhD from the Sorbonne. Ballas  taught Arabic literature at Haifa University and latterly divided his time between Tel Aviv and Paris, where he did most of his writing.

The author of 15 books, Ballas began his writing career in Arabic. He published his first novel in Hebrew in 1964 and had been writing fiction and essays ever since. He was awarded the Prime Minister`s Prize for Literature twice (1978, 1993) and the President`s Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2006).

Perhaps he is best known for Ma'abara, an account of the transit camp experiences of Jewish refugees from Arab countries. 

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