Cizia Zyke
Encyclopedia
Cizia Zykë was a French writer and adventurer born in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

. He wrote numerous books on exploring dangerous corners of the world.

Biography

Born to a half-French, half-Albanian ex-legionnaire and a Greek-born woman, he was raised in Taroudant until Morocco gained independence in 1956 when they all left for Bordeaux. His teenage years are marked with rebellion and violence - he was arrested twice. As a 17-year-old he tried to leave France, but being unable to obtain a passport he joined the Foreign Legion
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...

 to fight during the Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...

. After three months his unit was disbanded.

In 1967 he finally left France and traveled to his distant family in Argentina. In three years he earned quite a sum of money trading in Pre-Columbian art and gambling. He worked various jobs (became the owner of a night club in Buenos Aires, a sculptor and interior decorator in Ecuador, bootlegger and archeologist in Argentina).
From South America, he traveled to the USA and Asia, living in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Bangkok. In 1971 he arrived in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, and set up various money making schemes, which at one point led him to be severely beaten by a gang of professional racketeers. He moved on to new perilous adventures, first in the Sahara, and later in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

.

His first published book, Oro, which earned him international attention, narrates his adventures searching for gold in Costa Rica.

Cizia Zykë died of a heart attack in September 2011.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK