Bassam Frangieh (born 1949, Arabic: بسام فرنجيه) is a

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

scholar of contemporary

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / 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 (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...

and culture. He is best known for his pedagogical innovations in the study of the

Arabic language 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 ...

, as well as his translations of modern Arabic poets and novelists. He is a Professor of Arabic Language, Literature, and Poetry at

Claremont McKenna College Claremont McKenna College (CMC) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It has a curricular emphasis on government, economics, public affairs, finance, and internat ...

Education and career

Frangieh was born in a refugee camp in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

in 1949. His family, Palestinians who had owned an orange grove in Yaffa, had been relocated there due to the conflicts associated with the creation of the state of Israel. His family is distantly related to the famous

Frangieh family Frangieh (: "Franc", meaning " occidental" in Arabic), also spelled Frangié, Franjieh, or Franjiyeh, is a prominent Lebanese political family. * Bassam Frangieh (born 1949), scholar of contemporary Arabic literature and culture. Distant relative ...

, including former Lebanese president

Suleiman Frangieh Suleiman Kabalan Frangieh (15 June 1910 – 23 July 1992) was a Lebanese politician who served as the 5th president of Lebanon from 1970 to 1976. Early life and education Suleiman Frangieh was a scion of one of the leading Maronites, Maronite f ...

, but the Palestinian Frangieh

family tree A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms. Representations of ...

diverged from the Lebanese family tree several generations ago. Frangieh eventually moved to

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

to attend university, earning a B.A. from

Damascus University Damascus University () is the largest and oldest university in Syria, located in the capital Damascus, with campuses in other Syrian cities. It was founded in 1923 as the Syrian University () through the merger of the Faculty of Medicine of Dama ...

in 1976. While in Syria, he earned fame as a

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champion and professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. Frangieh attended graduate school in the United States, and received a Ph.D. in Arabic literature from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in 1987. After receiving his doctorate, Frangieh taught Arabic at Georgetown for several years before accepting a position at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. After his resignation from Yale in 2007, Frangieh joined

as a full-time Arabic professor and the head of the Arabic Department for the five

Claremont Colleges The Claremont Colleges (known colloquially as the 7Cs) are a consortium of seven private university, private institutions of higher education located in Claremont, California, United States. They comprise five undergraduate colleges (the 5Cs)� ...

while writing and researching new Arabic books. He is the head of the Middle East Studies Department.

Bibliography

Frangieh is a prolific author in both Arabic and English on contemporary Arabic literature. This is a list of some of his most prominent books and articles.

Textbooks

:*''Arabic For Life: A Textbook for Beginning Arabic'' (2011) :*''Anthology of Arabic Literature, Culture, and Thought'' (2005)

Translations

:*''Arabian Love Poems'' (1993), selected poems by Nizār Qabbānī

References

External links

Official Frangieh Biography (Yale University)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frangieh, Bassam 1950 births Living people 21st-century Palestinian writers Lebanese writers Palestinian people of Lebanese descent Lebanese people of Palestinian descent Damascus University alumni Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences alumni Georgetown University faculty Claremont McKenna College faculty Palestinian refugees Bassam Translators of Nizar Qabbani Palestinian emigrants to the United States Lebanese emigrants to the United States