Abdel Rahman Badawi (Arabic: ) (February 17, 1917 – July 25, 2002) was an Egyptian

existentialist Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and value ...

philosopher, professor of philosophy and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. He has been called the "foremost master of Arab existentialism." He published more than 150 works, mostly rendering of Arabic philosophical manuscripts.

Life

Born to a wealthy family in the village of Sharabass, 95 miles from

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, Badawi was educated at al-Saidiya school in Cairo. He graduated with a first-class degree in philosophy from the Egyptian University in 1938, and was supervised for his PhD thesis by

Alexandre Koyré Alexandre Koyré (; ; born Alexandr Vladimirovich (or Volfovich) Koyra; 29 August 1892 – 28 April 1964), also anglicized as Alexander Koyre, was a French philosopher of Russian origin who wrote on the history and philosophy of science. ...

.'Obituary: Abdel Rahman Badawi', ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 1 September 2002
Online
at

HighBeam HighBeam Research was a paid search engine and full text online archive owned by Gale, a subsidiary of Cengage, for thousands of newspapers, magazines, academic journals, newswires, trade magazines, and encyclopedias in English. It was headquarte ...

. From 1950 to 1956 he taught at

Ain Shams University Ain Shams University () is a public university located in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 1950, the university provides education at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. History Ain Shams University was founded in July 1950, the third ...

. As a member of a 1954 committee to draft a new Egyptian constitution, he clashed with

Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

, who dissolved the committee in 1956. From 1956 to 1958 he was a cultural attache in Switzerland, regarding fellow diplomats there as "ignorant and hypocritical". Badawi described leaving Nasser's Egypt to teach in the Sorbonne in 1967 as escaping "the big jail". However, a professorship in Libya from 1967 to 1973 ended when

Muammar Gaddafi Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (20 October 2011) was a Libyan military officer, revolutionary, politician and political theorist who ruled Libya from 1969 until Killing of Muammar Gaddafi, his assassination by Libyan Anti-Gaddafi ...

visited the university and was embarrassed to be received by Badawi's students arguing for

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

. Gaddafi imprisoned Badawi, publicly burning his personal library. His release was secured after 17 days by

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...

. Badawi taught at

Kuwait University Kuwait University (, abbreviated as Kuniv) is a public university located in Kuwait City, Kuwait. History Kuwait University (KU), (in Arabic: جامعة الكويت), was established in October 1966 under Act N. 29/1966. The university was of ...

from 1975 to 1982. He was a contributor to the existentialist magazine ''

Al Adab ''Al Adab'' () was an Arabic avant-garde existentialist literary print magazine published in Beirut, Lebanon, in the period 1953–2012. It was restarted in 2015 as an online-only publication. ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' describes it as one of t ...

''.

References

External links

''The Guardians obituary for Badawi

Encyclopædia Britannica
* His controversial book (from the history of atheism in islam) at archive.org (in Arabic)
His works at hindawi.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badawi, Abdur Rahman 1917 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Egyptian philosophers Existentialists Cairo University alumni Academic staff of Ain Shams University 20th-century Egyptian diplomats Academic staff of Paris-Sorbonne University Academic staff of Kuwait University Egyptian male poets 20th-century Egyptian poets 21st-century Egyptian poets Cultural attachés