André Aciman

André Aciman (; born 2 January 1951) is an Italian-American writer. Born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, he is currently a distinguished professor at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where he teaches the history of literary theory and the works of Marcel Proust.

He is the author of several novels, including Call Me by Your Name (winner of the 2008 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction ), which was made into a film, and the 1995 memoir Out of Egypt, which won a Whiting Award. Aciman said in a 2019 interview that he views the novel Eight White Nights as his best book.

Early life and education Aciman was born in Alexandria, Egypt, the son of Regine and Henri N. Aciman, who owned a knitting factory. His mother was deaf. Aciman was raised in a largely French-speaking home, where family members also spoke Italian, Greek, Ladino, and Arabic. He attended British schools in Egypt.

After his father purchased Italian citizenship for the family, Aciman moved with his mother and brother as refugees to Rome while his father moved to Paris. They moved to New York City in 1968.

Out of Egypt Aciman's 1996 memoir Out of Egypt, about Alexandria before the 1956 expulsions from Egypt, was reviewed widely. His wife, a graduate of University of Wisconsin–Madison and Harvard Law School, is the CEO of the Bridge, Inc., a New York City-based nonprofit organization that offers rehabilitative services. She is also a board director of Kadmon Holdings, Inc., and formerly worked as Chief Program Officer of Palladia and Deputy Executive Vice President of JBFCS.

Awards 1995: Whiting Award 2008: Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction