Contents

David Bensoussan

Biography[edit]

Bensoussan holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from McGill University.

He was born in Mogador, and lived there until the family moved to a larger city when he was eight.^[1] His family left Morocco for Israel in 1965 when he was a teenager.^[6] He earned his first degree in Israel, and moved from Israel to Canada in 1976.^[1]

In addition to his work as a professor and occasional employment in the tech sector, Bensoussan is author of a self-published, three-volume study of the Bible, La Bible Prise au Berceau, prefaced by biblical scholar André Chouraqui, in which he claims to have integrated historical, archaeological, and ethical analysis of the text.^[1]

Civic involvement[edit]

Until 2012, Bensoussan served as a sitting member of the Paul Martin and Stephen Harper government's Cross-Cultural Roundtable on Security. Established in 2005, the panel brought together prominent members from a number of Canada's cultural communities and government entities to discuss policy and program issues, and to promote dialogue and strengthening understanding between the national authorities and its electorate.^[8][9]

Bensoussan actively supported Irwin Cotler when he stood for Parliament.^[10] He has served as vice president of the Canadian Jewish Congress.^[11]

Writing[edit]

Bensoussan won the Prix Haïm Zafrani, a literary prize, in 2012 for his 2010 book, Il était une fois le Maroc.^[12][13] A second edition of the book was published, with more lavish illustrations.^[12]

Bensoussan's books about and knowledge of the Jews of Morocco are referred to by the growing number of scholars and other groups interested in the history and ethnography of the Moroccan Jewish community.^[14][15][16] He has testified on the subject at Parliamentary inquires in Canada.^[17]

Bensoussan frequently publishes essays in La Presse.,^[18][19][20]Huffington Post Québec , La voix sépharade, his own blog^[21] and many more publications.

Bensoussan has published two novels (La rosace du roi Salomon and L'énigme du roi Salomon), a memoir (Le fils de Mogador), two historical essays (L'Espagne des trois religions : grandeur et décadence de la convivencia and Il était une fois le Maroc), and, with Asher Knafo, an art book about illuminated Jewish marriage contracts (Mariage juif à Mogador).^[14][22]

Books[edit]

• La Bible prise au berceau, Éditions Du Lys, Montréal, 2002 ISBN 2-922505-01-4, 388p. Ouvrage en trois volumes préfacé par André Chouraqui.
• Témoignages - Souvenirs et réflexions de oeuvre de l'Alliance Israélite Universelle, in collaboration with Edmond Elbaz, Éditions Du Lys, Montréal, 2002, ISBN 2-922505-16-2
• L'Espagne des trois religions : grandeur et décadence de la convivencia, L'Harmattan, Paris, 2007 ISBN 9782296041349^[23]
• Mariage juif à Mogador Éditions Du Lys, Montréal, 2004 ISBN 978-2-922505-15-3^[22][24][25]
• Le fils de Mogador, Éditions Du Lys, Montréal, 2002, ISBN 9782922505214
• Il était une fois le Maroc - Témoignages du passé judéo-marocain, Éditions Du Lys, Montréal, 2010, ISBN 978-2-922505-21-4, Editions iuniverse 2012, ISBN 978-1-4759-2608-8
• L'âge d'or sépharade en Espagne Éditions Du Lys, Montréal, ISBN 2-922505-20-0,202 p., 2006
• La rosace du roi Salomon, Les Éditions Du Lys, 2011, ISBN 978-2-922505-23-8^[22]
• L'énigme du roi Salomon, iuniverse, 2012, ISBN 978-1-469764-36-8
• Antologie des écrivains sépharades du Québec, Éditions Du Marais, Montréal, 2010, ISBN 978-2-923721-13-2
• Isaie - Lecture commentée, Éditions Du Lys, Montréal, 2014, ISBN 978-2-922505-24-5, Éditions Du Marais, Montréal, 2014, ISBN 978-2-923721-52-1
• Va mon bien-aimé - Lekha Dodi, Éditions Du Lys, Montréal, 2016, ISBN 978-2-922505-25-2

References[edit]