Amin Maalouf (; ; 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 Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, 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 ''The Crusades Through Arab Eyes'' () is a French language historical essay by Lebanese author Amin Maalouf. As the name suggests, the book is a narrative retelling of primary sources drawn from various Arab chronicles that seeks to provide an A ...

'' is probably the best known. He received the

Prix Goncourt The 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 of only 10 euros, but resul ...

in 1993 for his novel '' The Rock of Tanios'', as well as the 2010

Prince of Asturias Award The Princess of Asturias Awards (, ), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 (), are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) to individuals ...

for Literature. He is a member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

Amin MAALOUF
" ''

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

''. and was elected its Perpetual Secretary on 28 September 2023.

Background

Maalouf was born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon, and grew up in the

Badaro Badaro is a residential neighborhood and business hub in the heart of Beirut, Lebanon. 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 fo ...

cosmopolitan neighbourhood, the second of four children. His mother, of Turkish ancestry, was from Egypt, and his father was a Melkite Catholic from the village of Machrah. He is the uncle of trumpeter

Ibrahim Maalouf Maalouf (, ; born 5 November 1980) is a French-Lebanese trumpeter, producer, arranger, and composer. In 2022, he became the first Lebanese instrumentalist nominated at the Grammy Awards for his album ''Queen of Sheba'' in collaboration with Ang� ...

Career

Maalouf worked as the director of ''

An-Nahar ''An-Nahar'' () is a leading Arabic-language daily newspaper published in Lebanon. In the 1980s, ''An-Nahar'' was described by ''The'' ''New York Times'' and ''Time Magazine'' as the newspaper of record for the entire Arab world. History and p ...

'', a Beirut-based daily newspaper, until the start of the

Lebanese civil war The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

in 1975, when he moved to Paris, which became his permanent home. Maalouf's first book, ''

'' (1983), examines the period based on 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 An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

by the

Catholic University of Louvain The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

(Belgium), the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB; ) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its main campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, autonomous board of trustees and offers programs le ...

(Lebanon), the

Rovira i Virgili University University of Rovira i Virgili (; ) is located in the Catalan cities of Tarragona, Reus, Tortosa Vila-seca, el Vendrell and Vilafranca del Penedès (Spain). Its name is in honor of Antoni Rovira i Virgili. The Universitat Rovira i Virgili i ...

(Spain), the

University of Évora 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". Un ...

(Portugal), and the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

(Canada). 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) to promote cultural interaction among the numerous countries surrounding the Mediterranean ...

. In 2010 he received the Spanish

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 Belgian-born French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair o ...

. Maalouf is the first person of Lebanese heritage to receive that honour."Lebanese novelist Amin Maalouf joins elite French Academy"
''The Daily Star'', 15 June 2012. In 2016, he won the

Sheikh Zayed Book Award The Sheikh Zayed Book Award is a literary award presented yearly to writers, intellectuals, publishers whose writings and scholarly publications contributed to Arab cultural, literary and social life. The award has been described as “the Arab ...

for "Cultural Personality of the Year", the premier category with a prize of 1 million

dirhams The dirham, dirhem or drahm is a unit of currency and of mass. It is the name of the currencies of Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Armenia, and is the name of a currency subdivision in Jordan, Libya, Qatar and Tajikistan. It was historicall ...

(approx.

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

272,000). In the same year, the University of Venice Ca' Foscari awarded him the Bauer-'' Incroci di civiltà'' prize for fostering cultural dialogue between civilizations. In 2020, he was awarded the National Order of Merit by the French government. He was given the honour by President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

. In 2021, Maalouf was elected a

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

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

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

s have been written for the Finnish composer

Kaija Saariaho Kaija Anneli Saariaho (; ; 14 October 1952 – 2 June 2023) was a Finnish composer based in Paris, France. During the course of her career, Saariaho received commissions from the Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet and from IRCAM for the En ...

. * 2000. '' L'Amour de loin'' ('Love from Afar'), opera * 2003. '' Adriana Mater'', opera * 2006. '' La Passion de Simone'', oratorio * 2010. ''

Émilie Émilie () is a French female given name. It is the feminine form of the male name Émile. People named Émilie and Emilie include: * Émilie Ambre (1849–1898), French opera singer * Emilie Autumn (born 1979), American singer-songwriter, poet ...

'',

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 Knights of the Legion of Honour 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