Taha Hussein

Educator, Author

1889 – 1973

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Who was Taha Hussein?

Taha Hussein was one of the most influential 20th century Egyptian writers and intellectuals, and a figurehead for the Arab Renaissance and the modernist movement in the Arab World. His sobriquet was "The Dean of Arabic Literature".

Taha Hussein was born in Izbet el Kilo, a village in the Minya Governorate in central Upper Egypt. He went to a kuttab, and thereafter was admitted to Al-Azhar University, where he studied Religion and Arabic literature. From an early age, he was reluctant to take the traditional education to his heart. Hussein was the seventh of thirteen children, born into a lower-middle-class family. He became blind at the age of three, the result of faulty treatment by an unskilled practitioner, a condition which caused him a great deal of anguish throughout his entire life.

Hussein met and married Suzanne Bresseau while attending the University of Montpellier in France. She was referred to as “sweet voice”. This name came from her ability to read to him as he was trying to improve his grasp of the French language. Suzanne became his wife, best friend and the mother of his two children and was his mentor throughout his life.

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Born
Nov 15, 1889
Minya Governorate
Also known as
  • Ṭāhā Ḥusayn
Spouses
Children
Religion
  • Islam
Nationality
  • Egypt
Profession
Education
  • Al-Azhar University
    (1902 - )
  • PhD, Cairo University
    ( - 1914)
  • PhD, University of Paris
  • Master of Arts, University of Montpellier
Died
Oct 28, 1973
Cairo

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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