Career
Born in Baghdad, Kishtainy trained as a lawyer and artist, graduating in painting from Baghdad’s Institute of Fine Arts in 1952 and gaining a law degree from the University of Baghdad in 1953. After the 1958 Iraq Revolution broke out he stopped teaching painting in Baghdad and moved to London to work for the British Broadcasting Corporation. Since 1989 he has written a daily satirical column in al-Sharq al-Awsat.