Ezzat
Fattah, born Assiout, Egypt, 1929, graduated, from Faculty of Law, University
of Cairo, 1948, and worked in capacities such as District Attorney, Public
Prosecutor, and Chief Prosecutor for various Egyptian cities, including
Alexandria, 1949-54, and Cairo, 1958-61, before enrolling at University
of Vienna Institute of Criminology, 1961, pursuing graduate studies and
undertaking research under the guidance of Professor Roland Grassberger
who introduced Ezzat to the new discipline of Victimology. Ezzat Fattah
became a Research Assistant in Criminology at the Université de
Montréal, 1965-68, as well as an Assistant and Associate Professor
of Criminology at the same institution while he was pursuing graduate work
there, receiving his M.A., 1965 and Ph.D., 1968, in Criminology, the first
student in Canada to be awarded a doctorate in this discipline. Currently,
Professor Emeritus of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, since 1974,
Professor Fattah was the University’s Founding Chairman of the Criminology
Department, 1974-78. Author or co-author of several important books and
some 100 scholarly papers in learned journals, Dr. Fattah received the
Konrad Adenauer Research Award in the Social Sciences and the Humanities,
1992; the Commemorative 125th Anniversary of Canada Medal; and is a Fellow,
Royal Society of Canada. Staunch defender of human rights and keenly aware
of the need to protect citizens against the abuses of power, Dr. Ezzat
Fattah was one of many leading the successful fight in Canada against the
death penalty. His well-known association with Amnesty International has
caused him to be invited to a number of international conferences to crusade
for the abolition of the death penalty and the commutation of sentences
for those on death row. Recognizing that “crime is normal, even natural
behaviour,” Dr. Ezzat Fattah, a pioneer in victimology, argues strongly
for a new body of criminal law for the 21st century, reflecting the social
realities of post-industrial society. [Photo, courtesy Professor Ezzat
Fattah]