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René Guénon
French metaphysician (1886–1951) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
René Jean-Marie-Joseph Guénon[2] (15 November 1886 – 7 January 1951), also known as Abdalwahid Yahia (Arabic: عبد الـوٰاحد يحيیٰ; ʿAbd al-Wāḥid Yaḥiā), was a French-Egyptian intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from esotericism, "sacred science"[lower-alpha 1] and "traditional studies"[lower-alpha 2] to symbolism and initiation.
René Guénon (Abdalwahid Yahia) | |
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Born | René-Jean-Marie-Joseph Guénon (1886-11-15)15 November 1886 |
Died | 7 January 1951(1951-01-07) (aged 64) |
Era | 20th-century philosophy |
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In his writings, he proposes to hand down eastern metaphysics and traditions, these doctrines being defined by him as of "universal character",[3] and adapt them to western readers "while keeping strictly faithful to their spirit".[4]
Initiated into Islamic esotericism from as early as 1910 when he was 24, he mainly wrote and published in French, and his works have been translated into more than twenty languages; he also wrote in Arabic an article for the journal Al Marifah.[5]