Taha Hussein (, ar, طه حسين; November 15, 1889 – October 28, 1973) was one of the most influential 20th-century Egyptian writers and intellectuals, and a figurehead for the Egyptian Renaissance and the

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

movement in the Middle East and North Africa. His

sobriquet A sobriquet ( ), or soubriquet, is a nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another, that is descriptive. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym, as it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name, without the need of expla ...

was "The Dean of Arabic Literature" ( ar, عميد الأدب العربي). He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twenty-one times.

Early life

Taha Hussein was born in Izbet el Kilo, a village in the

Minya Governorate Minya Governorate ( ar, محافظة المنيا ') is one of the governorates of Upper Egypt. Its capital city, Minya, is located on the left bank of the Nile River. Etymology The name originates from the chief city of the governorate, origi ...

in central

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient E ...

. He was the seventh of thirteen children of lower-middle-class parents. He contracted ophthalmia at the age of two, and, as the result of faulty treatment by an unskilled practitioner, he became blind. After attending a

kuttab A kuttab ( ar, كُتَّاب ''kuttāb'', plural: ''kataatiib'', ) or maktab ( ar, مَكْتَب) is a type of elementary school in the Muslim world. Though the ''kuttab'' was primarily used for teaching children in reading, writing, grammar, a ...

, he studied religion and

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( ar, الأدب العربي / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is '' Adab'', which is derived from ...

at El Azhar University; but from an early age, he was dissatisfied with the traditional education system. When the secular

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

was founded in 1908, he was keen to be admitted, and despite being poor and blind, he won a place. In 1914, he received a PhD for his thesis on the

sceptic Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

poet and philosopher Abu al-ʿAlaʾ al-Maʿarri.

Taha Hussein in France

Taha Hussein left for Montpellier, enrolled in its university, attended courses in literature, history, French and Latin. He studied

formal writing A literary language is the form (register) of a language used in written literature, which can be either a nonstandard dialect or a standardized variety of the language. Literary language sometimes is noticeably different from the spoken lang ...

but he was not able to take full advantage of it as he "may be used to taking knowledge with his ears, not with his fingers." He was summoned to return to Egypt due to the poor conditions at the

University of Cairo Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

; but three months later, those conditions improved, and Taha Hussein returned to France. After obtaining his MA from the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier (french: Université de Montpellier) is a public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the wor ...

, Hussein continued his studies at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. He hired Suzanne Bresseau (1895–1989) to read to him, and subsequently married her. In 1917 the Sorbonne awarded Hussein a second PhD, this time for his dissertation on the Tunisian historian Ibn Khaldun, who is widely regarded as the founder of modern ociology

Academic career

In 1919 Hussein returned to Egypt with Suzanne, and he was appointed professor of history at

. He went on to become a professor of Arabic literature and of

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken by more than 330 million people across much of West Asia, the Horn of Africa, and latterly North Africa, Malta, West Africa, Chad, and in large immigra ...

. At the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo, Taha Hussein was made responsible for the completion of Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir (''The Great Dictionary''), one of the academy's most important tasks. He also served as president of the academy. He was a member of several scientific academies in Egypt and internationally. His book of literary criticism '' On Pre-Islamic Poetry'' () of 1926 that bought him some fame in the Arab world. In this book, he expressed doubt about the authenticity of much early Arabic poetry, claiming it to have been falsified during ancient times due to tribal pride and rivalry between tribes. He also hinted indirectly that the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

should not be taken as an objective source of history. Consequently, the book aroused the intense anger and hostility of the religious scholars at

Al Azhar Al-Azhar Mosque ( ar, الجامع الأزهر, al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, lit=The Resplendent Congregational Mosque, arz, جامع الأزهر, Gāmiʿ el-ʾazhar), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the historic ...

and many other traditionalists, and he was accused of having insulted Islam. However, the public prosecutor stated that what Taha Hussein had said was the opinion of an academic researcher and no legal action was taken against him, although he lost his post at

in 1931. His book was banned but was re-published the next year with slight modifications under the title ''On Pre-Islamic Literature'' (1927). He was the founding

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

University of Alexandria Alexandria University ( ar, جامعة الإسكندرية) is a public university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fouad University (the name of which was later changed to Cairo University), becoming an indepen ...

Political career

Taha Hussein was an intellectual of the Egyptian Renaissance and a proponent of the ideology of

Egyptian nationalism Egyptian nationalism is based on Egyptians and Egyptian culture. Egyptian nationalism has typically been a civic nationalism that has emphasized the unity of Egyptians regardless of their ethnicity or religion. Egyptian nationalism first manifes ...

as an Arab nation within the Arab world, arguing in a series of public letters against the Pharaonist Tawfiq al-Hakim that Arab identity is integral to Egyptian identity. In 1950, he was appointed Minister of Education, in which capacity he led a call for free education and the right of everyone to be educated. He also transformed many of the Quranic schools into primary schools and converted a number of high schools into colleges such as the Graduate Schools of Medicine and Agriculture. He is also credited with establishing a number of new universities and he was the head of the Cultural Heritage of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. Hussein proposed that

Al Azhar University , image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Al-Azhar University portal , motto = , established = *970/972 first foundat ...

should be closed down in 1955 after his tenure as education minister ended. Taha Hussein held the position of chief editor of a number of newspapers.

Works

In the West he is best known for his autobiography, '' Al-Ayyam'' (, ''The Days'') which was published in English as ''An Egyptian Childhood'' (1932) and ''The Stream of Days'' (1943). The author of "more than sixty books (including six novels) and 1,300 articles", his major works include: *The Memory of Abu al-Ala' al-Ma'arri 1915 *Selected Poetical Texts of the Greek Drama 1924 * Ibn Khaldun's Philosophy 1925 *Dramas by a Group of the Most Famous French Writers 1924 *Pioneers of Thoughts 1925 *Wednesday Talk 1925 * On Pre-Islamic Poetry 1926 *In the Summer 1933 * The Days, 3 Volumes, 1926–1967 *Hafez and Shawki 1933 *The Prophet's Life "Ala Hamesh El Sira" 1933 *Curlew's Prayers 1934 *From a Distance 1935 *Adeeb 1935 *The Literary Life in the Arabian Peninsula 1935 *Together with Abi El Alaa in his Prison 1935 *Poetry and Prose 1936 *Bewitched Palace 1937 *Together with El Motanabi 1937 * The Future of Culture in Egypt 1938 *Moments 1942 *The Voice of Paris 1943 *Sheherzad's Dreams 1943 *Tree of Misery 1944 *Paradise of Thorn 1945 *Chapters on Literature and Criticism 1945 *The Voice of Abu El Alaa 1945 *Osman "The first Part of the Greater Sedition *''Al-Fitna al-Kubra'' ("The Great Upheaval") 1947 *Spring Journey 1948 *The Stream Of Days 1948 *The Tortured of Modern Conscience 1949 *The Divine Promise "El Wa'd El Haq" 1950 *The Paradise of Animals 1950 *The Lost Love 1951 *From There 1952 *Varieties 1952 *In The Midst 1952 *Ali and His Sons (The 2nd Part of the Greater Sedition) 1953 *(Sharh Lozoum Mala Yalzm, Abu El Alaa) 1955 * Anatagonism and Reform 1955 * The Sufferers: Stories and Polemics (Published in Arabic in 1955), Translated by Mona El-Zayyat (1993), Published by The American University in Cairo, *Criticism and Reform 1956 *Our Contemporary Literature 1958 *Mirror of Islam 1959 *Summer Nonsense 1959 *On the Western Drama 1959 *Talks 1959 *Al-Shaikhan (

Abu Bakr Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...

and

Omar Ibn al-Khattab ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate ...

) 1960 *From Summer Nonsense to Winter Seriousness 1961 *Reflections 1965 *Beyond the River 1975 *Words 1976 *Tradition and Renovation 1978 *Books and Author 1980 *From the Other Shore 1980

Translations

*Jules Simon's The Duty 1920–1921 *Athenians System (Nezam al-Ethnien) 1921 *The Spirit of Pedagogy 1921 *Dramatic Tales 1924 *Andromaque (Racine) 1935 *From the Greek Dramatic Literature (Sophocle) 1939 *Voltaire's Zadig or (The Fate) 1947 *André Gide: From Greek *Legends' Heroes *Sophocle-Oedipe

Tribute

On November 14, 2010,

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

celebrated Hussein's 121st birthday with a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

Honours

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hussein, Taha 1889 births 1973 deaths Blind people from Egypt Al-Azhar University alumni Nahda Egyptian novelists Cairo University alumni Critics of Arab nationalism Egyptian nationalists Muslim writers Blind writers Blind academics University of Montpellier alumni University of Paris alumni Egyptian translators 20th-century Egyptian historians Cairo University faculty Recipients of the National Order of the Cedar Pharaonism People from Minya Governorate Egyptian liberalists 20th-century translators Egyptian magazine founders Egyptian philosophers