Arkan Simaan (born 1945) is a Lebanese-French novelist.

Biography

Arkan was born in Lebanon in 1945. When he was two years old, his family immigrated to Brazil and settled in the city of

Anápolis Anápolis ( , ) is a Brazilian city in the state of Goiás. It is located between two capitals, the federal capital Brasília and state capital Goiânia. It is the third most populous city in the state, with 398,869 inhabitants according to the ...

near

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

. The

1964 Brazilian coup d'état The 1964 Brazilian coup d'état () was the overthrow of Brazilian president João Goulart by a military coup from March 31 to April 1, 1964, ending the Fourth Brazilian Republic (1946–1964) and initiating the Military dictatorship in Brazil, ...

overthrew the government of

João Goulart João Belchior Marques Goulart (; 1 March 1919 – 6 December 1976), commonly known as Jango, was a Brazilian politician who served as the president of Brazil from 1961 until a military coup d'état deposed him in 1964. He was considered the ...

just as Simaan had begun studying physics at the

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

. In response to this, he became a student activist. Sought by the political police and sentenced to jail in absentia, he went underground. His name was then cited in several prosecutions. Forced to flee Brazil, he arrived in Paris in 1970. After a few years in France, Simaan refrained from activities that were connected with his prior political involvement. In Paris he resumed his studies in physics at the University Paris Diderot. He then attended the Institut Supérieur des Matériaux et de la Construction Mécanique from which he received an engineering degree. Following a short spell in industry, he realized that he wanted to teach, so he obtained the ''

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

'' in physics. In 2012 he was one of the founders of Planète Amazone, a French non-governmental organization defending indigenous peoples. He took part in the travels in Europe of the chief Raoni. Arkan Simaan is member of the scientific patronage committee of

Association Française pour l'Information Scientifique Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

Works

All his books were originally written in French, and many of them have won awards. * (With Joëlle Fontaine) "L'Image du Monde des Babyloniens à Newton" (Adapt Editions, Paris, 1998) * "Cette sentence vous fait plus peur qu'à moi-même :

Giordano Bruno Giordano Bruno ( , ; ; born Filippo Bruno; January or February 1548 – 17 February 1600) was an Italian philosopher, poet, alchemist, astrologer, cosmological theorist, and esotericist. He is known for his cosmological theories, which concep ...

" (Cahiers rationalistes, 2000) * "La science au péril de sa vie – les aventuriers de la mesure du monde" (Vuibert / Adapt, Paris, 2001.) In 2002 this book was awarded Prize of Special Book in Astronomy (Prix Spécial du livre d'astronomie) * "Vénus devant le soleil – comprendre et observer un phénomène astronomique" (Vuibert / Adapt, 2003). This book concerns the

transit of Venus A transit of Venus takes place when Venus passes directly between the Sun and the Earth (or any other superior planet), becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a transit, Venus is visible as ...

across the Sun. * "L'Image du Monde de Newton à

Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

" (Vuibert / Adapt, Paris, 2005) * "Le paradoxe de la science:

Fritz Haber Fritz Jakob Haber (; 9 December 1868 – 29 January 1934) was a German chemist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his invention of the Haber process, a method used in industry to synthesize ammonia from nitrogen gas and hydrog ...

" (Cahiers rationalistes n° 579, November 2005) * "L'Écuyer d' Henri le Navigateur" (Éditions Harmattan, Paris, 2007) * "Un marin en Terre des perroquets", (Ancre de marine éditions, Saint-Malo, 2024), 156 p. * ''Viens, on s’en va ! – Immigration, dictature, exil'', Éditions Zinédi, 2025 (Born in Lebanon, the author recounts his immigration to Brazil, his political commitment against the Brazilian dictatorship, his arrest and his exile in France, where he became an associate professor of physics, then an activist for the defense of forests and indigenous peoples).

References

External links

Adapt Éditions

Futura-sciences

The transit of Venus across the Sun

The transit of Venus: a stroke of luck for teachers

Articles and reviews for the rationalist journal Science et pseudo-sciences
on afis.org
Arkan Simaan : La science en questions II série À Ciel ouvert
– video on dailymotion.com
(fr) Arkan Simaan : La science en questions II série À Ciel ouvert
– video on dailymotion.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Simaan, Arkan 1945 births Living people French science writers Brazilian science writers Brazilian skeptics Science communicators Brazilian emigrants to France Brazilian non-fiction writers Writers from Paris French historical novelists Writers of historical fiction set in the Middle Ages Lebanese emigrants to Brazil French male novelists French male non-fiction writers University of São Paulo alumni