Ihsan Abdel Qudous
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Ihsan Abdel Quddous ( ', ) (1 January 1919 – 11 January 1990) was an Egyptian
writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...
,
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...
, and
journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
and editor in Egypt's '' Al Akhbar'' and ''
Al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...
'' newspapers. He wrote many novels that were adapted into films, and served as editor for many years of the literary journal ''
Rose al-Yūsuf Rose al Yusuf or Rose al-Yūsuf may refer to: * Rose al Yusuf (journalist) (1898–1958), a Lebanese born journalist and stage-actress * ''Rose al Yusuf'' (magazine), an Arabic weekly political magazine {{disambiguation ...
''.


Early life and education

Abdel Quddous was born in
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 ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, to an Egyptian father from
Gharbia Governorate Gharbia ( ', , "the western governorate") is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north of the country, south of Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, and north of Monufia Governorate. Its capital is Tanta, which is 90 km north of ...
, Mohamed Abd El-Quddous, and Lebanese journalist Rose al Yusuf. His favorite hobby as a child was
reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
. At the age of eleven, he started writing short stories and classical poems. His father, Mohamed Abdel Quddous, an
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian
theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...
and film actor, motivated him to pursue a career in
law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
. Ihsan graduated from
law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...
in 1942 and worked as a
lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
. He was, at the beginning of his career, a trainee for the law firm of Edward Qussairi, a famous Egyptian lawyer. He was also an
editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...
in '' Rose al Youssef'', a weekly
magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...
that his mother Fatima al Youssef (aka Rose al Yusuf) had founded.


Literary and journalism career

In 1944, he started writing
film script A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a ''teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writ ...
s, short stories, and
novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
s. He later left his law career to focus on his literary career. A few years later, he became a distinguished journalist in the Al Akhbar newspaper, where he worked for eight years. He then worked in the
Al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...
newspaper and became its
editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...
. He often criticized important personalities, which got him imprisoned three times throughout his journalism career. Ihsan regarded women as symbols of sacrifice in the Egyptian society which was why women were the central theme of his literary works. His works influentially contributed to bring change in the conventional concepts in Egypt. Contrary to his literary works, he was a very conservative person. He was known to have a resisting personality and had been a strict husband and father in his house. He wrote more than 60 novels and collections of short stories. Of his novels, five were dramatized, nine were used as
radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3  hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
series scripts, ten had television
miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...
adaptations, and 49 had
film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
s, such as '' Sleepless'' (1957), ''
I Am Free ''Ana Horra'' or ''Ana Hurra'' (, ) is a 1959 Egyptian drama starring Lobna Abdel Aziz. ''Ana Horra'' is associated with the onset of a feminist context to Egyptian films in the 1960s. The film is also known as part of Salah Abu Seif's Empowe ...
'' (1959), ''
There is a Man in our House ''There Is a Man in Our House'', or ''A Man in Our House'' ( ''Fi Baytena Ragul''), is a 1961 Egyptian drama, history, romance film directed by Henry Barakat. It is based on a novel of the same name by Egyptian writer Ihsan Abdel Quddous, and s ...
'' (1961), ''
My Wife's Dignity ''My Wife's Dignity'' (Egyptian Arabic: كرامة زوجتي translit: ''Karamet Zawgati'' or ''Karamat Zawjati'') is 1967 Egyptian film written by Ihsan Abdel Quddous and directed by Fatin Abdel Wahab. It stars Salah Zulfikar and Shadia. The fi ...
'' (1967), ''
Empire M ''Empire M'' (, Transliteration, translit. Emberatoriet meem) is a 1972 Egyptian drama film directed by Hussein Kamal. The film was entered into the 8th Moscow International Film Festival in 1973. It was also selected as the Egyptian entry ...
'' (1972), ''
Where Is My Mind? "Where Is My Mind?" is a song by American alternative rock band Pixies, originally released as the seventh track on their 1988 debut album, '' Surfer Rosa''. After receiving initial success upon release, the song saw renewed popularity after ...
'' (1974)and ''
I'm Not Lying But I'm Beautifying ''I'm Not Lying But I'm Beautifying'', also known as ''The Made Up Truth'' (Egyptian Arabic: أنا لا أكذب ولكني أتجمل German: ''Die geschminkte wahrheit'' translit: ''Ana La Aktheb Wlakenani Atajaml''), is a 1981 Egyptian televi ...
'' (1981). His works have been translated to several foreign languages including the English, French, German, Ukrainian, and
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
languages. Ihsan also co-founded the Egyptian Story Club. He drew inspiration for his epistolary Arabic novel, ''La anam'' (translated into English as ''I Do Not Sleep)'' from editing letters sent by advice-seeking readers to the journal ''Ruz al-Yusuf''.


Personal life and death

His son Mohamed Ihsan Abdel Quddous is a journalist. One of Ihsan's first articles was an attack on the British Ambassador
Miles Lampson Miles Wedderburn Lampson, 1st Baron Killearn, (24 August 1880 – 18 September 1964) was a British diplomat. Background and education Miles Lampson was the son of Norman Lampson, and grandson of Sir Curtis Lampson, 1st Baronet. His mothe ...
(Lord Killearn). He won early fame by writing articles exposing the government's role in providing the troops with defective arms during the Palestine War for which he was imprisoned. Ihsan was jailed again in 1954 after writing an article, titled the secret society that rules Egypt "al-jam'iyya al-sir-riyya al-lati tahkum Misr," that revealed Nasser's machinations in the March Crisis.Biographical dictionary of Modern Egypt by Arthur Goldschmidt Ihsan Abdel Quddous died on 12 January 1990 after suffering a stroke.


Awards and honors

Ihsan Abdel Quddous received his first award for writing the novel ''My Blood, My Tears, My Smile'' in 1973. Two years later, in 1975, he received a Best Screenplay award for his novel ''The Bullet Is Still in my Pocket''. He was honored by the former Egyptian president
Gamal Abdel 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 ...
with an
Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...
of the First Class. Shortly after his death in 1990, the incumbent Egyptian president
Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...
honored him with an Order of the Republic of the First Class.


See also

* Yussef El Guindi


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdel Quddous, Ihsan 1919 births 1990 deaths People from Cairo Egyptian male writers Egyptian journalists Egyptian Muslims Muslim writers Egyptian people of Lebanese descent Recipients of the Order of Merit (Egypt) Egyptian romantic fiction writers 20th-century Egyptian novelists