The writer Sami Michael passed away today (Mon. 01.04.24) at the age of 97, leaving behind an impressive legacy. Michael, published 11 novels, 7 children's books, 3 reference books and wrote 4 plays and won dozens of prizes and certificates of appreciation.
Michael was born in August 1926 as Kamal Salah in Baghdad, Iraq, in a mixed neighborhood of Muslim Jews and Christians. He began working as a journalist and writing in the communist press when he was a student at the American University in Baghdad and was a member of the Iraqi Communist Party that worked against the regime and for democracy and human rights. In 1948 after a warrant was issued against him he fled and crossed the border into Iran and was forced to change his name. He stayed there for a year and joined as a member of the Toda Party, the Iranian Communist Party, where he continued to publish articles against the regime in Iraq.
"The first day in Israel was in Haifa"
In 1949 he immigrated to Israel, and landed at Haifa airport. The first story that Michael wrote was "The first day in Israel was in Haifa", in which he described how he fell in love with the magical city as soon as he saw it from the air. He first settled in Jaffa, and then moved to Haifa following an offer he received from the writer Emil Habibi to become an editorial member of the "Al-Ittihad" newspaper. Michael lived in Wadi Nisnas and published stories and articles in "Al-Ittihad" and "Al-Jadid". He had a regular column that he published under the pen name "Samir Mard".
In 1955 he began working as a surveyor in the hydrological service of the Ministry of Agriculture, where he worked for thirty years, until his retirement. His experiences as an employee of the hydrological service inspired his semi-autobiographical book from 2001, "Water Kissing Water".
In 1974, Michael published his first novel, "Equal and Worth More", which deals with the lives of the new immigrants in Israel in the 50s in the crossings and the sectarian discrimination suffered by the immigrants from the Islamic countries.
In 1975, Michael published his first children's book, "A Storm Between the Palms", about the adventures and heroism of Jewish boys and girls in Iraq, during World War II. The book was a great success and as a result, Am Oved publishing house asked Michael to write a children's book about the transition period, the book "Pahonim and Dreams" was published in 1979. From there everything is history and as mentioned Michael managed to write 11 novels, 7 children's books, 3 non-fiction books and wrote 4 plays and win dozens of prizes and certificates of appreciation.
Michael Hi has been married for many years to Malka Michael, a teacher who founded and ran the Romma school in Haifa for many years. The two have a daughter and a son who are both professionals and engaged in the field of education, the daughter Dekla is also a teacher and the son Amir, managed the high school in Mashgav and later was the inspector of the North District in the Ministry of Education. He remarried Rachel Yona Michael, who was a journalist in the newspapers "Davar" and "Haftish" and on Kol Israel radio.
Michael is an avowed atheist and the "Sami Michael Association" was founded in his name with the aim of spreading his legacy. Since 2017, the association's department has given an award to individuals "who do for society in everything related to reducing gaps and providing equal opportunities, in the spirit of understanding his heritage while emphasizing the social and geographic periphery.
The faction of the majority of the city in the Haifa City Council bows its head, following the news of the death of Sami Michael:
We received with sadness the news of the passing of the writer and spiritual man Sami Michael, who throughout his life worked for equality, peace and social justice. Out of a commitment to a Jewish-Arab partnership, he publicly announced his support for the city's majority list in the recent Haifa municipal elections. His clear and humanistic voice will be missed by us and the city of Haifa, and we will continue his path with faith.
The mayor, Yona Yahav, on the death of Sami Michael:
Sami Michael was a Haifa patriot and beloved of the city. He did a lot to glorify her name in his works, and became one of her symbols. His works are an asset of the Israeli Iron Sheep, and it is not for nothing that he has won awards and worldwide recognition.
I will never forget his activity on my behalf, when he, Natan Zach and AB Yehoshua organized and worked for my election as mayor when I first ran for office. Michael will be missed by me and Haifa very much. Of blessed memory
May the writer's memory run forever - Sami Michael...!
Passed away from the world "with a good return" - teaches about a good person among mankind, who had a "full" and interesting life of "doing and satisfaction"...!
I wish some of us would also be "inspired to write" without waiting for "permission to create"... and vice versa...!@✨️😍
Between Yaffe Yarkoni St. and Jordana Arazi St. there is a narrow alley that can be named after Sami Michael.
Of blessed memory
A Jew who declares that he is an atheist has removed himself from the Jewish people.
The Jewish people are Jewish.
All atheists are invited to fly to an atheist country (spoiler - there are none)
An excellent writer and a quality person understood that it is necessary to work for a living and write for the soul. I remember an episode from one of the books My Children. Iraq arrived at the kibbutz and were served salted fish. Of course they couldn't swallow other foods that they weren't used to and they tried to reach an agreement with the kibbutz that they would receive an allowance and eat their own groceries. I really enjoyed reading the books of
Less one is nicer