Hisham Ali Hafiz (28 April 1931 - 26 February 2006) was a Saudi Arabian newspaper publisher and author. He is best known for co-founding ''
Arab News'' and his
Saudi Research and Publishing Company published 16 newspapers and magazines at the time of his death. He has also written a number of collections of poetry and nonfiction.
Early career
Hafiz was born on 28 April 1931 in
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...
where his father and uncle founded the ''
Al Madina'' newspaper in 1937. He and his brother Mohammad Hafiz worked at the paper during school holidays. He studied economics and political science at
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 ...
while undertaking military studies at The Egyptian Military Academy. He completed his studies in 1955.
After serving as a lieutenant in the
Saudi Army
Royal Saudi Land Forces ( ar, القُوَّاتُ البَرِّيَّةُ المَلَكِيَّة السُّعُودِيَّة, Al-Quwwat al-Bariyah al-Malakiyah as-Su'udiyah) is the land warfare service branch of the Armed Forces of Saudi Ara ...
, he became an officer in the
Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He became the editor-in-chief of ''Al Madina'' in 1961 before
King Faisal nationalised Saudi newspapers without compensation in 1963. The Saudi Government banned him from working as a journalist after a couple of years so he rejoined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Saudi Research and Publishing
He founded
Saudi Research and Publishing in 1971 with Mohammad Hafiz.
They saw the potential of economic growth attracting expatriates from around the world. Their first publication was ''
Arab News'', the first English-language daily newspaper in Saudi Arabia with the first edition published in 1974. The success of ''Arab News'' led to the founding of an international Arabic-language newspaper ''
Asharq Alawsat
''Asharq Al-Awsat'' ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, Aš-Šarq al-ʾAwsaṭ, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted f ...
'' in 1978. Today, ''Arab News'' and ''Asharq Alawsat'' are published internationally.
The success of these publications led to Saudi Research and Publishing developing a number of publications catering to both Saudi citizens and expatriate workers from India and Pakistan.
Writer
In 1991, Hafiz published his first volume of poetry ''Words with Rhythm'' with four volumes of that name published during the 1990s.
Death
Hisham Hafiz died in Beirut in February 2006 and was buried in his hometown Madinah.
See also
*
List of newspapers in Saudi Arabia
Most of the early newspapers in the Persian Gulf region were established in Saudi Arabia. The first newspaper founded in the country and in the Persian Gulf area is '' Al Fallah'', which was launched in Mecca in 1920. All of the newspapers publish ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hafiz, Hisham
1931 births
2006 deaths
Egyptian Military Academy alumni
Newspaper publishers (people)
People from Medina
Magazine founders