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Lebanese writer and philosopher From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mikha'il Nu'ayma (Arabic: ميخائيل نعيمة, ALA-LC: Mīkhāʼīl Nuʻaymah; US legal name: Michael Joseph Naimy), better known in English by his pen name Mikhail Naimy (October 17, 1889 – February 28, 1988), was a Lebanese[1][2] poet, novelist, and philosopher, famous for his spiritual writings, notably The Book of Mirdad. He is widely recognized as one of the most important figures in modern Arabic literature and one of the most important spiritual writers of the 20th century.
Mikhail Naimy | |
|---|---|
| |
| Native name | ميخائيل نعيمة |
| Born | October 17, 1889 Baskinta, Metn, Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate, Ottoman Syria |
| Died | February 28, 1988 (aged 98) Beirut, Lebanon |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Lebanese and American |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Literary movement | Mahjar |
| Notable works | The Book of Mirdad |
In 1920, Naimy re-formed the New York Pen League, along with its original founders Nasib Arida and Abd al-Masih Haddad, and other Mahjari literary figures such as Kahlil Gibran.
Naimy was born into a Greek Orthodox family and completed his elementary education at the Baskinta school.[1][2] He then studied at the Russian Teachers' Institute in Nazareth and the Theological Seminary in Poltava. He moved to the United States in 1911, joining his two older brothers in Walla Walla, Washington, where they owned a furniture store. He then moved to Seattle to study at the University of Washington, earning degrees in law and liberal arts. After his graduation in 1916 he moved to New York City, and in 1918 he was drafted in the U. S. Army.
After the war, Naimy returned for a time to Walla Walla, where he began his writing career in 1919. He wrote poetry in Russian, Arabic and English.[3] He then moved back to New York, where he joined with Khalil Gibran and eight other writers to form a movement for the rebirth of Arabic literature, the New York Pen League. Gibran was its president and Naimy its secretary. In 1932, having lived in the States for 21 years, Naimy returned to Baskinta, where he lived for the rest of his life. He died of pneumonia at the age of 98 on February 28, 1988, in Beirut.
The mystic Osho had this to say about The Book of Mirdad: "There are millions of books in the world but The Book of Mirdad stands out far above any book in existence".
(from the MLA database, March 2008)
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