Muhammad Mahmoud Al-Zubairi (; 1910 – 1 April 1965) was a

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

i poet, politician, and revolutionary who was assassinated. He is considered to be Yemen's greatest poet in the twentieth century and one of the country's most celebrated authors. He has been known as "Abu Al-Ahrar" (the father of freemen) and "the poet of Yemen".

Biography

Muhammad was born in 1910 in

Sanaa Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

in a middle-class family and grew up as an orphan. He received his basic education at Sanaa religious schools and in 1939 he moved to Cairo to continue his higher education at

Cairo University Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...

. He returned to Sanaa in 1941, but was imprisoned by

Imam Yahya Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din (or Imam Yahya) (, 18 June 1869 – 17 February 1948) was the first king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen from 1918 until his assassination in 1948. He became Imam of the Zaydis, a branch of Shia Islam, in 1904 af ...

for his criticism of the Imamate. He was released a year later and moved to

Taiz Taiz () is a city in southwestern Yemen. It is located in the Yemeni highlands, near the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is the capital of Taiz Governorate. As of 2023, the city has an estimated p ...

and then to

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

, where he established the "Free Yemeni Party" (also translated as the "Liberal Party") in 1944. Following the Dustor or Constitutional Revolution in 1948, which led to the death of Imam Yahya and the short-lived establishment of a new government, Muhammad returned to Sanaa and was appointed as Minister of Knowledge. However, the revolution failed weeks later as Imam Yahya's son

Ahmad Ahmad () is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other English spellings of the name include Ahmed. It is also used as a surname. Etymology The word derives from the root ( ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from ...

restored the monarchy, and Al-Zubairi had to leave Sanaa to Aden again, and then to Pakistan. When the 26 September Revolution erupted against Imam Ahmed in 1962, he returned to Yemen and became Minister of Education. He was later appointed as Deputy Prime Minister and a member of the Revolutionary Council until he quit in 1964. On 1 April 1965 he was assassinated in

Barat Barat may refer to: People Given name * Barat Ali Batoor (born 1983), Afghan photographer * Barat Shakinskaya (1914–1999), Azerbaijani and Soviet stage and film actress Surname * Andy Barat (born 1997), Comorian canoeist * Anne-Marie ...

northern

Sana'a Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

Bibliography

Non-fiction

* The Imamate and Its Danger to the Unity of Yemen * The Great Trick in Arab Politics

Famous poetry collections

* Poetry Revolution, 1963 * Prayer in Hell, 1960 * ''Diwan Al-Zubairi'', 1978

Novels

* Ma'asat ''Waq Alwaq,1985''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zubairi, Muhammad Mahmoud 1910 births People from Sanaa 20th-century Yemeni politicians 20th-century Yemeni poets 20th-century Yemeni educators 20th-century Yemeni novelists Yemeni revolutionaries 1965 deaths Assassinated Yemeni politicians Cairo University alumni Politicians assassinated in 1965