Patrick Seale

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Patrick Seale
Born(1930-05-07)7 May 1930
Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Died11 April 2014(2014-04-11) (aged 83)
London, England, United Kingdom
NationalityBritish
OccupationJournalist
Spouse(s)Lamorna Heath (1971 - her death, 1978)
Rana Kabbani (1985 -his death, 2014)

Patrick Abram Seale (7 May 1930 – 11 April 2014) was a British journalist[1] and author who specialised in the Middle East. A former correspondent for The Observer, he interviewed many Middle Eastern leaders and personalities. Seale was also a literary agent and art dealer.

Background[edit]

Patrick Abram Seale[2] was a Belfast-born journalist.[1] His father was Morris Siegel Seale (1896–1993), the Arabist and theologian, who was a Russian Jewish convert to Presbyterianism and Christian missionary in Syria, where Patrick spent most of his first 14 years. Seale's mother was Reine Attal, a Tunisian-Italian midwife.[3][4] Seale attended Balliol and St Antony's College, Oxford, where he specialised in Middle Eastern history.[5] He obtained his D.Litt. at Oxford University. His sister was the fashion designer Thea Porter.

Career[edit]

His journalistic experience includes six years with Reuters, mainly as a financial journalist, and over twelve with The Observer, covering the Middle East, Africa, and India.

Based in France, Seale was syndicated by Agence Global.[6] His columns appeared in most major newspapers around the world, and were carried weekly by several newspapers, including Al-Hayat (London), Al-Ittihad (Abu Dhabi), The Daily Star (Beirut), The Saudi Gazette (Jeddah) and Gulf News (Dubai).

Personal life and death[edit]

Seale married twice. First to Lamorna Heath in 1971 (died 1978) by whom he had a child, Orlando. His second wife, the writer and broadcaster Rana Kabbani, was the mother of his younger children, journalist Alexander Seale and writer and translator Yasmine Seale.[7]

Patrick Seale died aged 83 on 11 April 2014 in London from brain cancer.[7]

Works[edit]

Seale authored numerous books,[8] including:

  • The Struggle for Syria (1965)
  • French Revolution 1968 (1968)
  • Philby, the Long Road to Moscow (1973)
  • The Hilton Assignment (1973)
  • Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East (1988)
  • Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire (1992)
  • The Struggle for Arab Independence: Riad el-Solh and the Makers of the Modern Middle East (2010)

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Profile: Patrick Seale". The Guardian. London. 11 April 2011. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  2. ^ Tim Llewellyn, Obituary: Patrick Seale Archived 7 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine, The Guardian, 13 April 2014
  3. ^ Llewellyn, Tim (13 April 2014). "Patrick Seale obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  4. ^ Helms, Laura McLaws; Porter, Venetia (7 April 2015). Thea Porter: Bohemian Chic. Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 978-1-85177-826-3.
  5. ^ "Dr Patrick Seale". Syrian Center for Political & Strategic Studies. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  6. ^ "Patrick Seale profile". Agence Global. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  7. ^ a b Llewellyn, Tim (13 April 2014). "Patrick Seale, Syria specialist and former Observer correspondent, dies, aged 83". Observer. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Books by Patrick Seale". Amazon.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2013.

External links[edit]