Photo source: qantara.de
The leading representative of Arabic intellectual reforms was the distinguished Egyptian academic Taha Hussein ar. طه حسين who captured the attention of the cultural elite of his time with his sensationalist expression.
He was born on November 14, 1889 in a village in central Upper Egypt 🇪🇬
In front of you is a text about the writer, fourteen-time candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature, double doctor of science, university professor, founder of an University, Minister of Education and Science and one of the most influential figures in the Arab world.
When he was two years old, he lost his sight. When the University of Cairo was opened in 1908, he enrolled in his studies and became one of the first graduates and doctoral students.
He completed his master’s studies in France and obtained another doctorate degree at the Sorbonne in 1917. He was the first Egyptian to receive a doctorate from the Sorbonne. As many as 14 times he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his most famous works is the autobiographical novel “Days”
He said: “Education is like water and air, the right of every human being.”
Under his leadership, higher education in Egypt became free, religious schools were transformed into elementary schools, and several new universities were founded.
He liked the European influence because of the democratic world view.
In France, he enjoyed the privilege of being the first Egyptian to defend two doctorates at the prestigious Sorbonne.
The first dissertation in 1917 was on the topic of Ibn Khaldun, a Tunisian historian who is considered the founder of sociology, and then in 1918, when he critically reviewed the work of the Syrian philosopher and poet Abul Ala Al-Maari.
In his work “On pre-Islamic poetry” ar.في الشعر الجاهلي published in 1926, he expressed doubts about the authenticity of poetry dating from that era and thus boldly cast a shadow over almost the entire literature before the 7th century.
His autobiographical trilogy “Days” ar.الأيام, which represents different stages of his life, was translated into English in 1932, and soon it was filmed as a series that fascinates viewers again and again.
The film “Prayer of the Nightingale” ar. دععا الكروان, inspired by his book of the same name, attracted significant attention of the general public.
He enjoyed a happy family life only after marrying the French Susan, whom he considered his greatest support. In addition to seeing her as his best friend, he also trusted her as a mentor in life, and he especially enjoyed listening to her read in French, which is why he loved her “sweet voice”. From that marriage, they had two children, who translated his father’s work “The Intellectual” into French, and in this way, through the main character who experienced the same events as the writer himself, the readers got to know this blind visionary even better.