Naguib Mahfouz Abdel Aziz Ibrahim Ahmed El-Basha (December 11, 1911 – August 30, 2006) was an Egyptian writer. He is considered the first Egyptian and Arab to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Naguib Mahfouz wrote from the 1930s until 2004. All of his novels are set in Egypt and feature a recurring theme: the neighborhood that equals the world. Naguib Mahfouz wrote more than thirty novels, most of which were famous and adapted for film or television. His first novel was “Abath Al-Aqdar” (1939), and his last was “Qashmar” (1988). He also wrote more than twenty short stories, the last of which was “Dreams of Convalescence” (2004). Among his most famous works are: The Beginning and the End (1949), The Trilogy (1956–1957), Children of Gebelawi (1959), which was banned from publication in Egypt from its publication until recently, The Thief and the Dogs (1961), Chatter on the Nile (1966), Karnak (1974), and The Harafish (1977). While Mahfouz’s literature is classified as realist, existential themes appear throughout. Mahfouz is the Arab author whose works have been most adapted for film and television.