El Sayed Yassin ( ar, السيد ياسين; 3 September 1933 – 19 March 2017) was an Egyptian political and social writer and intellectual. He was born in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
on 30 October 1931.
Early life
He graduated from the college of law of
Alexandria University
Alexandria University ( ar, جامعة الإسكندرية) is a public university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fouad University (the name of which was later changed to Cairo University), becoming an indepen ...
, then obtained a master's in sociology and political science from
Cairo University
Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...
. He worked at the National Center for Social and Criminological Research before traveling to France to study law at the
University of Dijon
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
(1964–1966) and social sciences at the
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
(1966), during that time he took an interest in literary sociology, which was still emerging, as well as political sociology.
Upon his return to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, El Sayed Yassin joined the Centre for Palestinian and Zionist Studies in Al-Ahram in 1968, which journalist
Mohammed Hussein Heikal
Mohammed Hussein Heikal ( ar, محمد حسين هيكل ; August 20, 1888 – December 8, 1956) was an Egyptian writer, journalist, politician. He held several cabinet posts, including minister of education.
Life
Haekal was born in Kafr Ghann ...
renamed to the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Yassin participated in co-founding the centre and chaired it from 1975 to 1994. During that time, Yassin established the Social Studies Unit.
Yassin was Secretary-General of the Arab Thought Forum in Jordan (1990–1997). He worked as Assistant to the Egyptian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
and as Director of the Ministry of Scientific Research. He was a professor of political sociology at the National Center for Social and Criminological Research and as Chairman of the Local Monitoring Committee and was a member of the Supreme Council for Culture.
Work
* Principles of Social Research (original: ''Usus al-baḥth al-ijtimaāʻī'') (1963)
* Social Analysis of Research (original: ''at-fẖlīl aliǧtīmāʿī līl adb'') (1970)
* The Arab Personality: Between Self-Image and the Concept of the Other (original: ''Aš-šẖṣīa alʿrabīa: bayn ṣōrt Aḏ-ḏāt wmfhōm alāẖir'') (1973)
* Zionism: A Racist Ideology (original: ''Aṣ-ṣohiōnīā: āīdoyoloǧiya ʿnṣorīa'') (1977)
* Contemporary Criminal Policy: An Analytical Study of Social Defense Theory (original: ''al-Siyāsah al-jināʼīyah al-muʻāṣirah: dirāsah taḥlīlīyah li-naẓarīyat al-difāʻ al-ijtimāʻī'') (1977)
* Studies in Criminal Behavior (original: ''Dirāsāt fī as-solōk al-iǧtimāʿī'')
* Egypt Between Crisis and Advancement (original: ''Misr baina 'l-azma wa-'n-nahḍa'')
* Analysis of the Concept of National Thought (original: ''th-līl mafhōm al-Fkr al-qawmī'') (1987)
* Global Transformations and World Future (original: ''tḥawlāt al-omam wal-mstaqbl al-ʿālamī'') (2010)
* ''Horizons of Knowledge in the Age of Globalization'' (2011)
* People on the Platform of History (original: ''al-shaʻb ʻalá minaṣṣat al-tārīkh'') (2013)
* The Rise and Fall of Political Islam Movements (original: ''ṣoʿōd wṣoqōṭ ḥarakāt al-islām as-siyāsī'')
* Post-Revolution: Developmental Time and Civilizational Modernization (original: ''mā bʿd aṯ-ṯawrā: az-zmn at-tanmwī wt-tḥdīṯ alḥḍārī'')
Awards
* First Class of the Order of Merit (Jordan, 1992)
* Award for best book in human sciences for his book (
Cairo International Book Fair
The Cairo International Book Fair is the largest and oldest book fair in the Arab world, held every year in the last week of January in Cairo, Egypt, at Egypt International Exhibitions Center in New Cairo, it is organised by the General Egyptian ...
, 1995)
* Medal of Sciences and Arts (Egypt, 1995)
* State Merit Award in Social Sciences (Supreme Council of Culture, Egypt, 1996)
*
Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Award The Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Awards (or Al Owais Awards; ar, جائزة سلطان بن علي العويس) are a biannual prize for literary and cultural achievement in the Arab world.
Death
El Sayed Yassin died at Sheikh Zayed Specialized Hospital in 6 October city in the early morning hours of 19 March 2017.