Amin Maalouf (; ar, أمين معلوف; born 25 February 1949) is a Lebanese-born French"Amin Maalouf"
, Modern Arab writers. author who has lived in France since 1976."About the author"
with Amin Maalouf. Although his native language is

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, he writes in French, and his works have been translated into over 40 languages. Of his several works of nonfiction, '' The Crusades through Arab Eyes'' is probably the best known. He received the

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

in 1993 for his novel '' The Rock of Tanios'', as well as the 2010 Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He is a member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

.Amin MAALOUF
" ''

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

''.

Background

Maalouf was born in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Lebanon, and grew up in the

Badaro Badaro is a well-known residential neighborhood and business hub in the heart of Beirut. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by the Pierre Gemayel avenue on the north, the Hippodrome on the west, Sami el Solh avenue on the east, Beirut's pine ...

cosmopolitan neighborhood, the second of four children. His parents had different cultural backgrounds. His father was from the Melkite Catholic community near the village of Baskinta in Ain el Qabou. His mother, Odette Ghossein, is Lebanese from the Metn Village of Ain el Kabou. She was born in Egypt and lived there for many years before coming back to Lebanon; she lived in France until her passing in 2021 at the age of 100 years. Maalouf's mother was a staunch Maronite Catholic who insisted on sending him to Collège Notre Dame de Jamhour, a French Jesuit school. He studied sociology at the Francophone

Université Saint-Joseph Saint Joseph University of Beirut (French: ''Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth'', abbreviated to and commonly known as "USJ") is a private Catholic research university located in Beirut, Lebanon, which was founded in 1875 by French Jesuit ...

in Beirut. He is the uncle of trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf.

Career

Maalouf worked as the director of '' An-Nahar'', a Beirut-based daily newspaper, until the start of the

Lebanese civil war The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

in 1975, when he moved to Paris, which became his permanent home. Maalouf's first book, '' The Crusades Through Arab Eyes'' (1983), examines the period on the basis of contemporaneous Arabic sources. Along with his nonfiction work, he has written four texts for musical compositions and numerous novels. His book ''Un fauteuil sur la Seine'' briefly recounts the lives of those who preceded him in seat #29 as a member of the

Awards

Maalouf has been awarded honorary doctorates by the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), the American University of Beirut (Lebanon), the Rovira i Virgili University (Spain), the

University of Évora The University of Évora (''Universidade de Évora'') is a public university in Évora, Portugal. It is the second oldest university in the country, established in 1559 by the cardinal Henry, and receiving University status in April of the sa ...

(Portugal), and the University of Ottawa (Canada). Amin Maalouf 05

In 1993, Maalouf was awarded the

for his novel '' The Rock of Tanios'' (French: ''Le rocher de Tanios)'', set in 19th-century Lebanon. In 2004, the original, French edition of his ''Origins: A Memoir'' (''Origines'', 2004) won the

Prix Méditerranée The Prix Méditerranée (Mediterranean Prize) is a French literary award. It was created in 1984 in Perpignan by the Mediterranean Centre of Literature (CML) in order to promote cultural interaction among the numerous countries surrounding the Medi ...

. In 2010 he received the Spanish Prince of Asturias Award for Literature for his work, an intense mix of suggestive language, historic affairs in a Mediterranean mosaic of languages, cultures and religions and stories of tolerance and reconciliation. He was elected a member of the

on 23 June 2011 to fill seat 29, left vacant by the death of anthropologist

Claude Lévi-Strauss Claude Lévi-Strauss (, ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair of Social Anthr ...

. Maalouf is the first person of Lebanese heritage to receive that honor."Lebanese novelist Amin Maalouf joins elite French Academy"
''The Daily Star'', 15 June 2012. In 2016, he won the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for "Cultural Personality of the Year", the premier category with a prize of 1 million dirhams (approx. US$272,000). In 2020, he was awarded the

National Order of Merit An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit. Order of merit may also refer to: * FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football * PDC ...

by the French government. He was given the honor by President Emmanuel Macron. In 2021, he was elected a Royal Society of Literature International Writer.

Honours and decorations

Works

Fiction

Maalouf's novels are marked by his experiences of civil war and migration. Their characters are itinerant voyagers between lands, languages, and religions and he prefers to write about "our past."

Non-fiction

Librettos

All Maalouf's librettos have been written for the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. * 2000. '' L'Amour de loin'' ('Love from Afar'), opera * 2003. '' Adriana Mater'', opera * 2006. '' La Passion de Simone'', oratorio * 2010. '' Émilie'',

monodrama A monodrama is a theatrical or operatic piece played by a single actor or singer, usually portraying one character. In opera In opera, a monodrama was originally a melodrama with one role such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau's '' Pygmalion'', which w ...

References

External links

Amin Maalouf blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maalouf, Amin Writers from Beirut 1949 births Exophonic writers Living people Members of the Académie Française Prix Goncourt winners Prix Maison de la Presse winners Lebanese historical novelists Lebanese non-fiction writers French historical novelists French opera librettists 20th-century Lebanese writers 21st-century Lebanese writers 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French male writers French male novelists French male non-fiction writers Lebanese male writers Collège Notre Dame de Jamhour alumni Saint Joseph University alumni Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Knights First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland Officers of the Order of Cultural Merit (Monaco) Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Grand Cordons of the National Order of the Cedar Lebanese Melkite Greek Catholics French Eastern Catholics Lebanese emigrants to France Lebanese people of Egyptian descent Lebanese people of Turkish descent French people of Egyptian descent French people of Turkish descent Lebanese memoirists