ABSTRACT
This contribution is based on my experience as an archivist and collector of documents of the Middle Eastern communist and left-wing movements. I became attached to the Iish after I had written my phd in 1995. My doctoral thesis focused on the liberal and left-wing movements in the period 1945-1958, 1 and I was very glad to become part of the Iish as it allowed me to continue to pursue my interests. I did not realize that we had already acquired our biggest addition even before my appointment. The Henri Curiel archives, or the Groupe de Rome (Rome Group in the Iish archives), 2 had already been acquired through my Egyptian connection Rif’at al-Sa’id in 1994. Henri Curiel, born 1914, had been one of the most fascinating and controversial figures in the communist movement in the Middle East. He was assassinated in 1978. 3
