Amin Maalouf (; ar, أمين معلوف; born 25 February 1949) is a Lebanese-born French"Amin Maalouf"
, Modern Arab writers. author who has lived in France since 1976."About the author"
with Amin Maalouf. Although his native language is Arabic, he writes in French, and his works have been translated into over 40 languages. Of his several works of nonfiction, '' The Crusades through Arab Eyes'' is probably the best known. He received the Prix Goncourt in 1993 for his novel '' The Rock of Tanios'', as well as the 2010 Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He is a member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

.Amin MAALOUF
" ''

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

''.

Background

Maalouf was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and grew up in the

Badaro Badaro is a well-known residential neighborhood and business hub in the heart of Beirut. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by the Pierre Gemayel avenue on the north, the Hippodrome on the west, Sami el Solh avenue on the east, Beirut's pine ...

cosmopolitan neighborhood, the second of four children. His parents had different cultural backgrounds. His father was from the Melkite Catholic community near the village of Baskinta in Ain el Qabou. His mother, Odette Ghossein, is Lebanese from the Metn Village of Ain el Kabou. She was born in Egypt and lived there for many years before coming back to Lebanon; she lived in France until her passing in 2021 at the age of 100 years. Maalouf's mother was a staunch Maronite Catholic who insisted on sending him to Collège Notre Dame de Jamhour, a French

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

school. He studied sociology at the Francophone Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut. He is the uncle of trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf.

Career

Maalouf worked as the director of '' An-Nahar'', a Beirut-based daily newspaper, until the start of the Lebanese civil war in 1975, when he moved to Paris, which became his permanent home. Maalouf's first book, '' The Crusades Through Arab Eyes'' (1983), examines the period on the basis of contemporaneous Arabic sources. Along with his nonfiction work, he has written four texts for musical compositions and numerous novels. His book ''Un fauteuil sur la Seine'' briefly recounts the lives of those who preceded him in seat #29 as a member of the

Awards

Maalouf has been awarded honorary doctorates by the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium), the

American University of Beirut The American University of Beirut (AUB) ( ar, الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت) is a private, non-sectarian, and independent university chartered in New York with its campus in Beirut, Lebanon. AUB is governed by a private, aut ...

(Lebanon), the

Rovira i Virgili University University of Rovira i Virgili ( ca, Universitat Rovira i Virgili; , es, Universidad Rovira y Virgili; URV) is located in the Catalan cities of Tarragona and Reus, Spain. Its name is in honour of Antoni Rovira i Virgili. The University of Ro ...

(Spain), the University of Évora (Portugal), and the University of Ottawa (Canada). Amin Maalouf 05

In 1993, Maalouf was awarded the Prix Goncourt for his novel '' The Rock of Tanios'' (French: ''Le rocher de Tanios)'', set in 19th-century Lebanon. In 2004, the original, French edition of his ''Origins: A Memoir'' (''Origines'', 2004) won the Prix Méditerranée. In 2010 he received the Spanish Prince of Asturias Award for Literature for his work, an intense mix of suggestive language, historic affairs in a Mediterranean mosaic of languages, cultures and religions and stories of tolerance and reconciliation. He was elected a member of the

on 23 June 2011 to fill seat 29, left vacant by the death of anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss. Maalouf is the first person of Lebanese heritage to receive that honor."Lebanese novelist Amin Maalouf joins elite French Academy"
''The Daily Star'', 15 June 2012. In 2016, he won the Sheikh Zayed Book Award for "Cultural Personality of the Year", the premier category with a prize of 1 million dirhams (approx. US$272,000). In 2020, he was awarded the

National Order of Merit An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit. Order of merit may also refer to: * FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football * PDC O ...

by the French government. He was given the honor by President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

. In 2021, he was elected a

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820, by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV, to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, th ...

International Writer.

Honours and decorations

Works

Fiction

Maalouf's novels are marked by his experiences of civil war and migration. Their characters are itinerant voyagers between lands, languages, and religions and he prefers to write about "our past."

Non-fiction

Librettos

All Maalouf's

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

s have been written for the Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. * 2000. ''

L'Amour de loin ' (''Love from Afar'') is an opera in five acts with music by Kaija Saariaho and a French-language libretto by Amin Maalouf. The opera received its world premiere performance on 15 August 2000 at the Salzburg Festival. Saariaho, living in Paris ...

'' ('Love from Afar'), opera * 2003. '' Adriana Mater'', opera * 2006. ''

La Passion de Simone ''La Passion de Simone'' is an oratorio (or opera) composed by Kaija Saariaho to a libretto in French by Amin Maalouf, first premiered in a staging by Peter Sellars. The work, subtitled "a musical journey in 15 stations", centers on the life a ...

'', oratorio * 2010. ''

Émilie Émilie () is a French female given name. It is the feminine form of the male name Émile. Spelled Emilie, it is used internationally. People named Émilie *Émilie Bigottini (1784–1858), French dancer of Italian ancestry * Émilie Bonnivard ...

'', monodrama

References

External links

Amin Maalouf blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maalouf, Amin Writers from Beirut 1949 births Exophonic writers Living people Members of the Académie Française Prix Goncourt winners Prix Maison de la Presse winners Lebanese historical novelists Lebanese non-fiction writers French historical novelists French opera librettists 20th-century Lebanese writers 21st-century Lebanese writers 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French male writers French male novelists French male non-fiction writers Lebanese male writers Collège Notre Dame de Jamhour alumni Saint Joseph University alumni Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Knights First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland Officers of the Order of Cultural Merit (Monaco) Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite Grand Cordons of the National Order of the Cedar Lebanese Melkite Greek Catholics French Eastern Catholics Lebanese emigrants to France Lebanese people of Egyptian descent Lebanese people of Turkish descent French people of Egyptian descent French people of Turkish descent Lebanese memoirists