Egypt’s Supreme Council for Culture (SCC) will hold a special event on Thursday 7 November at 6pm to commemorate the 40
th anniversary of the late writer and novelist, Taha Hussein, who died on 28 October 1973.
The event is titled ‘Taha Hussein and the future of culture in Egypt.’ It will include, literary critics and historians, such as Abdel-Monem Tellaima, professor of Arabic Literature at Cairo University, Professor Mohamed Afifi, chair of the history department at Cairo University, education expert Kamal Mogheth, and Ahmed Zakaria ElShalaq, professor of modern history at Ain Shams University.
Taha Hussein’s well-known book, Mostaqbal Al-Thaqafa fi Misr (‘The Future of Culture in Egypt’) was first released in 1938, and was republished by the SCC last month.
Hussein (14 Nov 1889 – 28 Oct 1973) was a pioneer of modern Arabic literature. He authored dozens of works – criticism, literature and translation – among which the most controversial was, On Pre-Islamic Poetry and Al-Ayyam (‘The Days’). Despite having lost his eyesight at the age of three due to ill-treatment, Hussein obtained his PhD in 1914 on the poetry of Abu-Alaa Al-Maari, becoming a professor of Arabic Literature, and later minister of education.
Programme:
Thursday, 7 Nov, 6:00pm
Supreme Council for Culture
Opera Grounds, Zamalek
Short link:
