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Adonis (Ali Ahmad
Said in Al Qassabin) (1930- ) Adonis was born in al Qassabin near the city of Latakia, Syria. He is a poet, literary critic, translator, and editor. He received a traditional Islamic education from his father, who was farmer and imam. In 1944 he entered the French Lycée at Tartus. He graduated in 1950, and in the same year he published his first collection of verse, Dalila. He continued his studies in law and philosophy at the Syrian University in Damascus. He served two years in the army but spent part of that time in jail for his political views. In 1956 he and his wife left Syria for Lebanon. In Lebanon he and the Lebanese poet Yusuf Al-Khal founded a journal called “Shi'ir”, which introduced modernistic ideas into Arabic poetry. Its first issue was banned in several Arab countries. Rumors that Shi'r was infiltrated by Syrian nationalist elements led to its temporary suspension. In 1964, Adonis edited an anthology of Arabic poetry, Diwan al shi’r al arabi. In 1968, he published Mawakif, a poetry journal which, like Shi’ir, promoted a new Arabic literary convention. Experimentation and language remained his primary interests in poetry, even though he did explore the idea of exile and political issues. In 1970, Adonis was appointed professor of Arabic literature at the Lebanese University. Three years later he earned a doctoral degree from the St Joseph University in Beirut. The subject of his thesis was "Permanence and Change in Arabic Thought and Literature." In 1980-81, he was a visiting lecturer at the university Censier Paris III. He has taught at the Collège de France, Georgetown University, and the University of Geneva. He left the Lebanese University and moved to Paris in 1986. In 2001, Adonis was awarded the Goethe Medal of the Goethe-Gesellschaft. His name has often been mentioned among Nobel Prize candidates. Works by Adonis include:
Dalila, 1950 |
