Salih Jawad Altoma (; b. September 23, 1929) is an Iraqi poet, author, and professor emeritus of near eastern languages and cultures at the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies and an adjunct professor emeritus of comparative literature at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

Early life and education

Altoma was born in

Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...

in 1929 into the Tumah branch of the noble

Al Faiz family The family of Al Faiz (; ), also transliterated in a number of other ways, including Al Fa'iz, Al Fa'ez, Al Faez, or Al Fayez, is the oldest Alids, Alid family of Karbala, which they have occupied, on some occasions ruled, and held custodianship o ...

that hold high status in Karbala. Altoma claims

agnatic Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

descent from

Musa al-Kadhim Musa al-Kazim (; 745–799) was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the seventh imam in Twelver Shia Islam. Musa is often known by the title al-Kazim (), apparently a reference to his patience and gentle disposition. He was born ...

, the seventh

Shia Imam In Shia Islam, the Imamah () is a doctrine which asserts that certain individuals from the lineage of the Islamic prophet Muhammad are to be accepted as leaders and guides of the ummah after the death of Muhammad. Imamah further says that Imam ...

. His ancestors on some occasions ruled Karbala, and held custodianship of its holy sites. He grew up studying under a Shaykh Muhammad al-Sarraj al-Asadi, until the government invaded his class and took his students into the newly opened state schools. He studied at a Bab al-Taag primary school in Karbala, which later became the Sibt School. He concluded his primary and secondary studies in Karbala, and then went to earn his B.A from

Baghdad University The University of Baghdad (UOB) (, also known as Baghdad University) is a public research university in Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the ...

in 1952. In 1954, Altoma went to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as part of Iraq's cultural mission, and earned his Ed.D. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

in 1957.

Career

Altoma returned to

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

in 1957 and was assigned as a teacher in the High Teachers' House (later Faculty of Education in the University of Baghdad). After the 14 July revolution, he was chosen as member of the Cultural Unity Committee with the United Arab Republic, and a director of curricula and textbooks, at the Iraqi ministry of education. In 1961, Altoma was assigned as cultural attaché for Iraq in the United States, until 1963, and remained there, settling in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. He joined Indiana University's faculty in 1964. During his tenure, he also served as director of the Middle Eastern Studies Program from 1986-1991 and chair of the near eastern languages and cultures department from 1985-1991. Altoma received several fellowships including Harvard Research Fellowship, Indiana University Ford International Program Fellowship, National Endowment for Humanities,

American Research Center in Egypt The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) is an American non-profit dedicated to supporting research in Egyptian history. It is a member of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers. History ARCE was founded in 1948 in Boston by Edw ...

Fellowship and

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

. In 2014, he received the

Middle East Studies Association Middle East Studies Association (often referred to as MESA) is a learned society, and according to its website, "a non-profit association that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and enco ...

Mentoring Award for his exceptional teaching and contributions to Middle East studies. The courses that Altoma taught included: * Arabic-Western Literary Relations * American Reception of Contemporary Arabic Literature * The Literature of the Arabian Peninsula * Classical/Modern Arabic Literature * Modern Arabic Fiction * Modern Islamic Literature in English Translation * Arabic Poetry

Works

* ''A Dictionary of Modern Linguistic Terms: English-Arabic/Arabic-English'', with M. H. Bakalla. Beirut: Librairie du Liban, 1983. * ''Modern Arabic Poetry in English Translation: A Bibliography''. Tangier: King Fahd School of Translation, 1993. * Guest editor. ''Yearbook of Comparative and General Literature'' 48 (2000). * ''Modern Arabic Literature in Translation: A Companion''. London: Saqi Books, 2005. * ''Iraq's Modern Arabic Literature: A Guide to English Translations Since 1950''. Lanham. Scarecrow Press, 2010. Covering 60 years of materials, this bibliography cites translations, studies, and other writings, which represent Iraq's national literature, including recent works of numerous Iraqi writers living in Western exile. Altoma, has written numerous reports and reviews, and continues to do so at 95 years of age. His latest review, is called ''The Story of a Poem: Refaat Alareer’s ‘

If I Must Die ''If I Must Die'' is a poem by Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer. Written in 2011, the poem became famous following the death of its author, and has been recognized as a testament to the resilience, resistance, and humanity of the Palestinia ...

’'', and is about one of the early poems of leading Palestinian academic and poet,

Refaat Alareer Refaat Alareer (; 23 September 1979 – 6 December 2023) was a Palestinian writer, poet, professor, and activist from the Gaza Strip. Alareer was born in Gaza City in 1979 during the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip, which he said had nega ...

chose to write in English (not in Arabic, his native language).

Early life and education

Career

Works

References

See also