Nuri Ja far

Nuri Ja'far was an Iraqi social scientist, professor and historian, known for his adoption of modern social theories at his time, to analyze the Iraqi social reality. He was born in 1914 in Kadhimiya, Baghdad, to a religious and traditional family. He defied his father's wishes and pursued his education, becoming the number one student in the Kingdom of Iraq. He won a scholarship to the American University of Beirut, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1943. He then traveled to the United States to attain his master's and PhD degrees from the University of Texas in 1948 and 1950, respectively. He also spent his summers in the United Kingdom learning English. He returned to Iraq and started his career as a writer and lecturer, applying the theory of Ibn Khaldun to the Iraqi context. He wrote several books on the history and sociology of Iraq, such as The Iraqi Press and the National Movement, The Freedom of the Press in Iraq, and The Art of Interview and Investigation in Journalism. He also published a poetry collection in 1970, titled Priorities of Sadness and Joy. He left Iraq in 1997 and moved to Libya, where he taught at Al-Fateh University and the Libyan Academy for Postgraduate Studies. He returned to Iraq in 2011 and worked as the head of the journalism department at Ahl al-Bayt University in Karbala. He passed away in Baghdad on July 13, 1995, due to natural causes. He was 81 years old.