Iftah Ya Simsim
Iftah Ya Simsim (; meaning "Open Sesame") is the first international co-production of the American children's television series "Sesame Street" created in the Arab world. It premiered in Kuwait on September 14, 1979 and was broadcast in 22 Arabic-speaking countries, running until April 6, 1990. The program continued to be well-known decades after it went off the air. In 1978, educators, mass media officers, and social planners agreed to adopt "Sesame Street" as a feasible and economical solution for the low attendance in preschools and illiteracy that plagued the region. They approached the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), the producers of the American show, and purchased the rights to create an Arab version for US$2.5 million.
Simka Simkhovitch
Simka Faibusovich Simkhovitch was born on May 21, 1885 O.S./June 2, 1885 N.S. into a Jewish family in Novozybkov, Russia, who owned a small department store. During a severe case of measles when he was seven, Simkhovitch sketched the views outside his window and decided to become an artist, over his father's objections. Beginning in 1905, he studied at the Grekov Odessa Art School and upon completion of his studies in 1911 received a recommendation to be admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts. Though he enrolled to begin classes in architecture, painting, and sculpture at the Imperial Academy, he was dropped from the school roster in December because of the quota on the number of Jewish students and drafted into the army. Simkhovitch served as a private in the until his demobilization in 1912. Re-enrolling in the Imperial Academy, he audited classes.