Mr. Speaker, Naïm Kattan, a Quebec essayist and novelist, recently won the Prix de la culture séfarade. Born in Baghdad in 1928, he emigrated to Quebec in 1954, after studying literature at the Sorbonne. Since then, he has played a role in the cultural life of Quebec as a critic for Le Devoir and La Presse , and for the periodicals Liberté and Voix et Images .
In 1971, he won the Prix France-Canada with his first essay, Le réel et le théâtral . He has published three novels, Adieu Babylone , Les fruits arrachés and La fiancée promise .
He was a researcher for the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism and has a number of publications to his credit: Juifs et Canadiens , Écrivain des Amériques , and Les Juifs et la communauté française .
Quebec's culture has been enriched by Naïm Kattan's very special voice, a wonderful blend of the Jewish, Arab and Christian civilizations. It is with pride that the Bloc Quebecois pays tribute to him today.