Anwar Shaul

Shaul was born in Hillah to a family of Iraqi Jews. He was of Mizrahi descent on his father's side (Iraqi-Jewish) and of second-generation Ashkenazi descent on his mother's side (Austrian-Jewish).^[1][2] He originally trained as a lawyer at the Baghdad Law College, graduating in 1931.^[3][4]

Shaul served as editor of the Iraqi Zionist journal Al-Miṣbāḥ (אל-מצבאח; المصباح) from 1924 to 1925.^[5] In his contributions to the publication, he wrote under the pseudonym "Ibn al-Samaw'al" in an allusion to the 6th-century Arabian-Jewish poet Samaw'al ibn 'Adiya.^[6]

From 1929 to 1938, Shaul founded and worked as an editor for Al-Hassid (الحاصد lit. 'The Reaper'), a weekly literary magazine. It featured significant political commentary; mixing harsh criticism of European fascism and advocacy for both Iraqi nationalism and complete political independence from the British Empire.^[7][8][9] Under his editorial leadership, Al-Hassid became the foremost weekly magazine in Baghdad.^[10]

In addition to his publication of periodicals, Shaul published a number of longer works, including memoirs, translations of Western literature into Arabic, as well as anthologies of short stories and Arabic poetry.^[11]

In 1971, Shaul, who had long been resistant to emigrating despite intensive state-sponsored antisemitism in Iraq, reluctantly made aliyah. He continued to live in Israel until his death in 1984.^[12]