Literature · Film · Media · 1911–2006

Naguib Mahfouz — Age & Birthday

Born: 11 December 1911 · Died: 30 August 2006 · Age at death: 94

How old was Naguib Mahfouz when he died?

Naguib Mahfouz died aged 94. He was born on 11 December 1911 and died on 30 August 2006.

Egyptian novelist of the Cairo Trilogy who became the first Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature

Did you know?He spent most of his life working as a civil servant and wrote only in his spare time.

Quick facts

  • Date of birth11 December 1911
  • Date of death30 August 2006
  • Age at death94
  • Cause of deathChronic renal insufficiency, bacterial pneumonia
  • NationalityEgyptian
  • BirthplaceCairo, Egypt
  • Occupationnovelist, screenwriter, translator

Editor's Take:

Naguib Mahfouz brought the streets and families of Cairo to readers all over the world. His Cairo Trilogy follows three generations of a family through the changes of early twentieth-century Egypt. He wrote with great sympathy about ordinary people, their dreams and their struggles. In 1988 he became the first Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Some of his work provoked religious controversy, and in 1994 he survived a knife attack, but he continued writing into his nineties.

Key Milestones

  1. 1939: Publishes his first novel
  2. 1956: Publishes the Cairo Trilogy
  3. 1988: Wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
  4. 1994: Survives an assassination attempt

Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha (11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Profile

Naguib Mahfouz: Egypt's Nobel Novelist

Egyptian novelist, born 1911

Naguib Mahfouz was born in Cairo on 11 December 1911.

He wrote The Cairo Trilogy.

He was the first Arabic-language writer to win the Nobel Prize.

He survived a stabbing in 1994.

Career highlights

  1. 1939First novel: published
  2. 1956Cairo Trilogy: published
  3. 1959Children of Gebelawi: serialised
  4. 1988Nobel Prize: Literature
  5. 1994Attack: stabbed

Did you know?He worked as a civil servant for most of his writing life.

Age at death
94
Would be
114
Years since death
20

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Frequently asked questions

When is Naguib Mahfouz's birthday?
Naguib Mahfouz's birthday is December 11. He was born on December 11, 1911 in Cairo, Egypt.
How old was Naguib Mahfouz when he died?
Naguib Mahfouz died on August 30, 2006, aged 94.
Who shares a birthday with Naguib Mahfouz?
Famous people who share Naguib Mahfouz's December 11 birthday include Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Hector Berlioz, Robert Koch, Max Born and John Kerry.

Born on the same day6

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Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn1918–2008

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Hector Berlioz1803–1869

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Robert Koch1843–1910

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ScienceDied aged 66
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Max Born1882–1970

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John Kerryb. 1943

John Kerry

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Viswanathan Anandb. 1969

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Reviewed by the Who Shares My Birthday editorial team.

Last reviewed: October 2026