Mahjoub Sharif

Since 2004, Mahjoub Sharif had been suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which resulted from the damage caused by the time spent in prison and was further complicated by diabetes type 2. He died on 2 April 2014 at a hospital in Omdurman and was buried in the graveyard Ahmed Sharfi in the same town.

Nafaj. Turath Publishing, London, 2002. (In Arabic)

Zeinab and the mango tree. Abd al-Karim Mirghani Cultural Center, printed in Cairo, 1999. (Original Arabic, republished in Dutch, French and English)

Al-Soumbulayya (Tiny spike of grain). Azza Publishing House, Khartoum, 1998. (In Arabic)

The frequent imprisonment of Mahjoub Sharif under Gaafar Nimeiri and then under Omar al-Bashir caught the attention of Amnesty International and later Africa Watch/Human Rights Watch. His case was also made part of BBC's Prisoners of Consciousness series, presented by David Attenborough. Especially Amnesty International has maintained an active interest in the case for more than two decades, spanning from a first report in 1980, over a 1990 campaign to send cards to him in prison, of which he received about 2,000, to a thank you event organized by Mahjoub Sharif in London in August 2008, when he sent letters back to the available addresses.

Children and soldiers. Beirut, 1975. (In Arabic, republished by Aro Commercial Press, Khartoum, 1986).

Mahjoub Sharif was born in a rural setting to a family of petty traders and spent his childhood in Omdurman, while visiting a primary school in the town Arab. He moved away from the trade of his family and was trained as teacher in the Maridi Institute for Teachers in Khartoum; afterwards he was a primary school teacher most of his working years. Due to his poems critical of the regime of Gaafar Nimeiry, he was imprisoned the first time in 1971, followed by numerous prison spells throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. This was also connected to frequent suspension from public service and short-lived permission to continue after release from prison.

Mahjoub Sharif (1 January 1948 – 2 April 2014), born as Mahjoub Muhammad Sharif Muhammad, was a Sudanese poet, teacher and activist for human rights. He became known in Sudan and other Arabic-speaking countries for his colloquial poetry and his public engagement, both committed to further the causes of democracy, freedom, general well-being and national identity. His poetry was put to music by eminent musicians, such as Mohammed Wardi and Mohamed Mounir, but also led to repeated political imprisonment under different Sudanese governments.