Masoud Juni, sometimes spelled as Masoud Jouni (; 1939-16 May 1991), was a

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

writer, poet and novelist from

Mashqita Mashqita () is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Latakia Governorate, located north of Latakia. Nearby localities include Ayn al-Bayda, Al-Shamiyah and Burj Islam to the west, al-Bahluliyah to the east and Mushayrafet al- ...

Latakia Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mar ...

known for his sentimental poems about love and nationalism.Union of Arab Writers in Syria , Masoud Jouni (in Arabic)
/ref>Masoud Jouni.. different figures in one creative self , Al-Baath Media (in Arabic)
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Early life, education and early jobs

Juni was born in 1939 in the village of

during the period of the

French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon The Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon (; , also referred to as the Levant States; 1923−1946) was a League of Nations mandate founded in the aftermath of the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire, concerning the territori ...

. After completing high school, Juni traveled to and resided in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in 1957 where he earned a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from the

Egyptian Military Academy Egyptian Military Academy is the most prominent military academy in Egypt. Traditionally, graduates of the Military Academy are commissioned as officers in the Egyptian Armed Forces The Egyptian Armed Forces () are the military forces of the E ...

two years later in 1959 and later returned to Syria to study Law in the

University of Damascus A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

. Sometime after graduating, he became an officer in the

Syrian Arab Army The Syrian Arab Armed Forces (SAAF; ) were the combined armed forces of Syria from 1963 to 2024. They served during the rule of the Ba'ath Party in Syria. The SAAF consisted of the Syrian Arab Army, Syrian Arab Air Force, Syrian Arab Air D ...

before being transferred to the Syrian Civil Defence Forces which he became the director of in

and

Tartous Tartus ( / ALA-LC: ''Ṭarṭūs''; known in the County of Tripoli as Tortosa and also transliterated from French Tartous) is a major port city on the Mediterranean coast of Syria. It is the second largest port city in Syria (after Latakia), an ...

Career

He began writing in the 60s and joined the

Arab Writers Union The Arab Writers Union (ar.: اتحاد الكتاب العرب) is an association of Arab writers, founded in 1969, in Damascus, Syria, at the initiative of a group of Arab writers including Syrian novelist Hanna Mina. In 2008, the union was mo ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, rising to become one of its prominent members and later becoming the president of its branch in Latakia. His first published work was ''Songs for Love and People'' which he published in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

in 1968, a poetry book that, like most of his works, contains nationalist, sentimental and romantic poems. He would later continue to publish four more publications in Damascus, three books of poetry and a novel from 1971 to 1991. He says in his poem "Your eyes are Poetry":

Death

He died on Thursday 16 May 1991 at the age of 53, leaving behind three unpublished manuscripts, a novel, ''A House of Basalt'', the second volume of ''The Dual Says'' and a novel talking about political life and society in the 1960s. The first two books would be published in Damascus in 1992 and 1994 respectively, while the third unnamed novel remains unreleased to this day. Fellow Syrian writer Dr. Masoud Bobou wrote in an article mourning him after his death:

Publications

*''Songs for Love and People'' أغنيات للحب والشعب Poetry. Damascus 1968 *''Flame and Shadow'' اللهب والظل Poetry. Damascus 1971 *''Two Steps Between You and I'' بيني وبينك خطوتان Poetry. Damascus 1984 *''The Dual Says'' يقول المثنى Poetry. Damascus 1991 *''Proclamation Number 9'' البلاغ رقم 9 Novel. Damascus 1991 *''A Basalt House'' بيت من البازلت Novel. Damascus 1992 *''The Dual Says'' يقول المثنى Poetry. Damascus 1994

References

External links