Bodufenvalhuge Sidi

Who was Bodufenvalhuge Sidi?

Bodufenvalhuge Sidi or Assayyidhu Bodufenvalhugey Seedhee, was a much-celebrated Maldivian intellectual and writer.

Bodufenvalhuge Sidi, born on 19 May 1888 as Hussain el-Hussaini, was Bodufenvalhuge Don Manike and Mohamed Kuda Sidi’s son. He was a poet and also one time chief justice. He married eight ladies and had five surviving children, from four of these marriages. His first wife was Bodugalhuge Aysha Didi, daughter of Bodugaluge Lhatuttu Didi.

Among his descendants are Ahmed Mujuthaba and Mohamed Mustafa, who are both prominent in Maldivian administration and politics.

Bodufenvalhuge Sidi spent several years of his youth in Addu Atoll with his maternal relatives. Addu Atoll was the main centre of learning in the Maldives at that time, the turn of the 20th century. He was educated there by a well-known master and relative, Elhageì Abdullahi Didi son of Ganduvaru Hasan Didi also known as Don Beyya of Meedhu. Bodufenvalhuge Sidi was credited with many of the developments in Maldivian poetry in the 20th century. He was the last major poet to write in the Maldivian poetic style called raivaru and one of the first poets to write in the style called lhen.