Youssef Halaq (; 1939–2007) was a

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

writer, professor and literary translator who translated various Russian works and publications from the

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

to his native

Arabic 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 ...

since 1968. Halaq was born in the town of

Yabroud Yabroud or Yabrud () is a city in Syria, located in the ''Rif Dimashq Governorate, Rif Dimashq'' (i.e. Damascus' countryside) Governorates of Syria, governorate about north of the capital Damascus. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics ...

, 80 kilometres north of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, in 1939 during the period of the

Mandatory Syrian Republic The First Syrian Republic, officially the Syrian Republic, was formed in 1930 as a component of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon, succeeding the State of Syria. A treaty of independence was made in 1936 to grant independence to Syria and ...

. After finishing his education in Yabroud, he traveled and resided in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

temporarily to study at the

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

where he got a

Magister degree A magister degree (also magistar, female form: magistra; from , "teacher") is an academic degree used in various systems of higher education. The magister degree arose in medieval universities in Europe and was originally equal to the doctorate; ...

in Russian literature in 1964. Upon returning to his home country, he began teaching the Russian language at the High Institute for Russian Language at

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 ...

and in various schools in the city before beginning to translate in 1968. He joined the

Arab Writers Union The Arab Writers Union (ar.: اتحاد الكتاب العرب) is an association of Arab writers, founded in 1969, in Damascus, Syria, at the initiative of a group of Arab writers including Syrian novelist Hanna Mina. In 2008, the union was mo ...

and its Translation Association, and from 1968 to 1990, he translated 18 Russian language books including selected works of prominent figures such as

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

Rasul Gamzatov Rasul Gamzatovich Gamzatov (, ; rus, Расу́л Гамза́тович Гамза́тов, p=rɐˈsul ɡɐmˈzatəvʲɪtɕ ɡɐmˈzatəf, a=Rasul Gamzatovich Gamzatov.ru.vorb.oga; 8 September 19233 November 2003) was a Soviet and Russian po ...

, and

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...

. He died in

in 2007 at the age of 67. Professional works of Youssef Halaq (in Arabic)
/ref>

Works

Those following publications are all translations by Halaq from the Russian language which were published in

and

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 ...

from 1968 to 1990. *''Marxist Aesthetics - A Study By a Group of Soviet scholars'' (1968) الجمال في تفسيره الماركسي- دراسة لمجموعة من العلماء السوفييت *''Stories on Lenin and Lunacharsky'' (1970) قصص عن لينين لوناتشارسكي *''Alcohol and Children'' (1972) الكحول والأولاد *''On Literature and Art'' (1972–1973) في الأدب والفن *''Literary and Artistic Studies'' (1977) دراسات أدبية وفنية *''The Foundations of Marxist-Leninist Aesthetics'' (1978) أسس علم الجمال الماركسي-اللينيني *''My Dagestan'' (1979) بلدي *''Chosen Works - Belinsky'' (1980) أعمال مختارة - بلنسكي *''The Duel'' (1982) المبارزة *''Moloch'' (1982) مولك *''Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality'' (1982) علاقات الفن الجمالي في الواقع *''In Culture'' (1982) في الثقافة *''Money for Maria'' (1984) نقود لماريا *''Literature and Humanist Sciences'' (1986) الأدب والعلوم الإنسانية *''The Master and Margarita'' (1986) المعلم ومارغاريتا The Master and Margarita (in Arabic)
/ref> *''The Word in Novel'' (1988) الكلمة في الرواية *''Place and Time in the Novel'' (1990) المكان والزمان في الرواية

References

1939 births 2007 deaths People from Rif Dimashq Governorate Moscow State University alumni Academic staff of Damascus University 20th-century Syrian writers {{Syria-writer-stub