Mahfouz, Naguib, MAH fooz, NAH geeb (1911-2006), an Egyptian writer, became the first author writing in Arabic to win the Nobel Prize for literature. Mahfouz won the prize in 1988. Many of his novels deal with the various social classes of Cairo, Egypt. The many vivid characters in his fiction and the artistry he used to put them into authentic Egyptian contexts place Mahfouz firmly in the tradition of the world novel.