Mariam C. Said () is a Lebanese-American writer and activist. She is the widow of Palestinian-American academic and activist

Edward Said Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian-American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of Postcolonialism, post-co ...

Biography

Mariam C. Said was born and raised 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, to

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

parents who were of Palestinian and Lebanese origin. Her father, Emile Cortas, was the leading figure of the Quaker community in Lebanon and founder of the canning company Cortas. She holds an undergraduate degree from 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 ...

(AUB) in Lebanon and two graduate degrees from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. For more than 20 years, she worked in the financial services industry in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 2009, Said published the critically acclaimed memoir, ''A World I Loved: The Story of an Arab Woman'' by her mother Wadad Makdisi Cortas. Said collaborated with

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress. In her career spanning over six decades, she has garnered List of awards and nominations received by Vanessa Redgrave, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony A ...

to conceive and create a theatre production based on the memoir. The success of its premiere at the

Brighton Festival Brighton Festival is a large, annual, curated multi-arts festival in England, first held in 1967. It includes music, theatre, dance, circus, art, film, literature, debate, outdoor and family events, and takes place in venues in the city of Brig ...

in 2012 led to a performance at the

Miller Theatre Miller Theatre at Columbia University is located on the Morningside Heights, Manhattan, Morningside Heights campus of Columbia University. It is a performing arts producer dedicated to developing and presenting new music. Originally named the ...

in New York.

Activism

Said is the Vice-President of the Barenboim-Said Foundation (USA) and co-steward of the Barenboim-Said Akademie. She is a founding member of the board of the

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) states that it is "the largest Arab American grassroots civil rights organization in the United States." According to its webpage, it is open to people of all backgrounds, faiths and ethnicitie ...

. She serves in the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (WEDO) which was founded by her husband

and the musician

Daniel Barenboim Daniel Moses Barenboim (; born 15 November 1942) is an Argentines, Argentine-Israeli classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin, who also has Spain, Spanish and State of Palestine, Palestinian citizenship. From 1992 until January 2023, Bare ...

, as well as Senza Frontiere in Italy and the Alumni Association of North America,

. She serves on the boards on several organisations including

the Freedom Theatre The Freedom Theatre (Arabic: مسرح الحرية) is a Palestinian community-based theatre and cultural center in the Jenin refugee camp, in Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank, Palestine. Established in 2006, the theatre aims to gener ...

in Jenin, Palestine and ArteEast in New York.

Recognition

In recognition of her dedication to the continuing success of the WEDO, Said received an honorary doctorate from the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, in 2014. In a 2012 interview with the

Wiener Zeitung ''Wiener Zeitung'' () is an Austrian newspaper. First published as the ''Wiennerisches Diarium'' in 1703, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the world. Until April 2023, it was the official gazette of the government of the Republic of Austria ...

, she described the philosophy of the WEDO and the BSA as follows:

“Think of the principle of counterpoint: single voices are recognized as independent objects. The final result is harmony on a higher level. We are not a political but a cultural and humanitarian project. Understanding is the start of reducing mistrust. We are the microcosm of a society that does not exist yet.”

Personal life

Said was married to the late academic and writer Edward Said. She has two children, the author

Najla Said Najla Said (; born 4 April 1974) is an American author, actress, playwright, and activist. Said's literary and academic work addresses racism, stereotyping, social and economic inequality, with a particular focus on the challenges that face immi ...

and a son, Wadie who is a law professor.The Intercept website
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Publications and interviews

* "Mariam Said on the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra."

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

NewsHour, February 5, 2013
YouTube link
* "Zeitgenossen. Mariam C. Said."

, September 28, 201
Wienerseitung link
* "The World That Mariam Said Loved. Edward Said's Widow Collaborates With Vanessa Redgrave."

Forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, December 15, 2012
Forward link
* "Welcoming address by Mariam Said at the Edward Said Memorial Conference", April 15, 2013, Centre for the Humanities at

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

YouTube link
* Interview with

Ricardo Karam Ricardo Karam () is a Lebanese television presenter, producer, talk-show host, author and public speaker. Over the years, he has created several shows, series and documentaries, and founded RK Productions which has taken charge of producing all ...

, April 4, 201
YouTube link
* Wadad Makdisi Cortas: “A World I Loved”. Edited by Mariam C. Said, with a foreword by

Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognised as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writing has ... been of very great ben ...

. New York 2009: Nation Books. * Mariam C. Said: �
Barenboim-Said Foundation does not promote normalization.
��

Electronic Intifada ''The Electronic Intifada'' (''EI'') is an online Chicago-based publication covering the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. It describes itself as not-for-profit, independent, and providing a Palestinian perspective. History ''EI'' was founded in ...

, March 17, 2010
Electronic Intifada link
* Mariam C. Said: Foreword, in: Edward W. Said. "On Late Style. Music and Literature Against the Grain." New York:

Pantheon Books Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint. Founded in 1942 as an independent publishing house in New York City by Kurt and Helen Wolff, it specialized in introducing progressive European works to American readers. In 1961, it was ...

, 2006.

References

External links

ArteEast websiteBarenboim-Said Foundation (USA) website
{{Edward Said American political writers Postcolonial literature American humanists American activists American writers of Lebanese descent American University of Beirut alumni Columbia University alumni Lebanese people of Palestinian descent Living people Said family Year of birth missing (living people)