King pays homage to late Moroccan Jew historian Zafrani

Morocco's King Mohammed VI of Morocco has paid homage to Haim zafrani, a Moroccan Jew historian and writer who died early Wednesday in Paris at the age of 82, in a condolences message sent to his family.

Born in 1922 in Essaouira (south-west of Rabat), Zafrani, an academician, member of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, and also member of several French institutes, was known for his writings about the Jewish thought, language and literature, in particular for his book "2000 years of Jewish life In Morocco."

In his condolences message sent to Zafrani's wife Celia and read out at the funeral, Thursday, by the King's advisor, Andre Azoulay, the monarch described as "an exceptional man" the Moroccan historian whose "encyclopedic knowledge, his fundamental writings have been and will remain decisive for the knowledge of the singularity of our Moroccan identity and heritage (..)."

Other tributes were paid to Zafrani by academicians and writers including Morocco's Tahar Benjelloun who hailed "the spiritual richness, the generosity, the humility and the rigor" of this historian.