Louis Awad

Who was Louis Awad?

Louis Awad was an Egyptian intellectual and writer.

Born in the upper Egypt town of Minya, Egypt, Awad studied at the literature department of Cairo University before setting off to England for further studies before the Second World War. He returned to Egypt in 1941, after which he lived in the Cairo district of Doqqi for much of his adult life.

Louis Awad was born in the village of Sharuna in the district of Minya. He studied literature at Cairo University, Oxford University, and Princeton University. As chairman of the faculty of letters at Cairo University, Awad inaugurated in Egypt the modern study of literary criticism based on scientific principles. From 1945 to 1950 he joined with other writers who drew from Marxism and other sources in a call for the total reform of Egyptian society. His novel alAnqa expresses this orientation. In a volume of poetry, Plutoland, he introduced free verse forms to Egyptian literature and presented a scathing attack on traditionalism. Awad's unwavering critical stance continued after the 1952 revolution. As a consequence, he was forced to resign his position at Cairo University in 1954.