Taha Hussein

1889 - 1973

country of citizenship: Ottoman Empire, Sultanate of Egypt, Kingdom of Egypt, Republic of Egypt, United Arab Republic, Egypt

languages spoken, written or signed: Arabic, French, Latin

educated at: Faculty of Arts of Paris, University of Montpellier, Cairo University, Al-Azhar University

occupation: linguist, historian, translator, writer, literary critic, university teacher, politician, literary scholar, novelist, literary historian

award received: Grand Cross of the Civil Order of Alfonso X the Wise, Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile, Order of Merit, Grand Cordon of the National Order of the Cedar‎, Order of Civil Merit (Syria), Order of the Republic (Tunisia), United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights, honorary doctor of the University of Madrid Complutense, honorary doctor of the University of Palermo

position held: Minister of Education of Egupt

Taha Hussein (Egyptian Arabic: [ˈtˤɑːhɑ ħ(e)ˈseːn], Arabic: طه حسين; November 15, 1889 – October 28, 1973) 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" (Arabic: عميد الأدب العربي). He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twenty-one times. Source: Wikipedia (en)