Salman Rushdi

Ahmed Salman Rushdie (English: Ahmed Salman Rushdie — Salman Rushdie, Urdu أحمد سلمان رشدی, Hindi अहमद सलमान रश्‍दी) is a British writer of Indian origin and a winner of the Booker Prize (1981). Critics classify him as a magical realist.

He was born and raised in Bombay (modern-day Mumbai) in the family of a prosperous businessman. At the age of 14 he went to study in England, where he later studied history at Cambridge. He worked in the theater and then as a journalist. In 1964 he received British citizenship.

Salman Rushdie’s debut novel, “Grimus,” in the genre of semi-science fiction, went unnoticed by readers and critics. However, his next novel, “Midnight’s Children,” brought Rushdie fame and is considered his best work. In 1993 this book received the “Booker of Bookers” prize as the best novel among all Booker Prize winners over 25 years, and in 2008 it was chosen as the best of the prize’s 40-year history. The poll was conducted among readers.

After this success, Rushdie wrote the novel “Shame” (1983) about Pakistan in the same style of magical realism. Rushdie was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters.

Rushdie’s novels “The Moor’s Last Sigh” (1995) and “The Ground Beneath Her Feet” (1999) continue the themes of the search for self-identity through the example of emigrants, as well as the cult of celebrity in the modern globalizing world.

His novel “The Satanic Verses” (1988) provoked fierce protests from Muslims. One of the characters is modeled on the Prophet Muhammad, portraying him in an unflattering light.

From 2004 to 2006 he was president of PEN American Center. In 2004 he married for the fourth time, to the Indian actress Padma Lakshmi.

On June 16, 2007, on the occasion of the Queen of Great Britain’s birthday, Salman Rushdie was knighted, which sparked mass protests in the Muslim world.

On July 10, 2008, in London, following an