Wadie Elias Jwaideh (1 July 1916 – 9 March 2001) was an Iraqi American professor of history known for his work on the

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

Biography

Jwaideh was born in the southern Iraqi city of

Basra Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...

, into an Arabic-speaking Christian family that later moved to Baghdad. In 1942 he received a Licentiate in Law from the University of Baghdad and in 1960 a Ph.D. from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (Maxwell School) is the professional public policy school of Syracuse University, a private research university in Syracuse, New York. The school is organized in 11 academic departments and 13 ...

. During this time, he also held a lecturer position in Arabic at Johns Hopkins University. After graduating he joined the faculty of

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

as a history professor, where he founded the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literature. He retired in 1985 and moved to San Diego where he was an adjunct professor of history at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

until 1990. An annual lecture is given in his honor at

Jwaideh and the Kurds

His book “The Kurdish National Movement” was selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2006. The book was published in book form by

Syracuse University Press Syracuse University Press, founded in 1943, is a university press that is part of Syracuse University. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. History SUP was formed in August 1943 when president William P. Tolley prom ...

46 years after was published as a Ph.D. thesis; the thesis had long been known to and cited by scholars. Jwaideh understood the Kurdish socio-political system as operating at a tribal (aşiret) level before the twentieth century. According to Jwaideh, individual Kurdish leaders who attained political power did so within wider Muslim political structures, not within the Kurdish community. In Jwaideh's view, Kurdish identity is fundamentally tribal and more secular than religious. While acknowledging the "classic" status of Jwaideh's ''Kurdish National Movement,'' M. Hakan Yavuz asserts that Jwasdeh's characterization of Kurdish identity as being predominantly secular is fundamentally different from

Kemalist Kemalism ( tr, Kemalizm, also archaically ''Kamâlizm''), also known as Atatürkism ( tr, Atatürkçülük, Atatürkçü düşünce), or The Six Arrows ( tr, Altı Ok), is the founding official ideology of the Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurcher ...

secularism.

Books

* ''The Kurdish National Movement: Its Origins and Development'': Syracuse University Press. 2004. * ''The Introductory Chapters of Yaqut's Mu'jam Al-Buldan'' by Yāqūt ibn ʻAbd Allāh al-Ḥamawī / Wadie Jwaideh (Jan 1, 1959). * ''Islamic and Middle Eastern societies : a festchrift in honor of Professor Wadie Jwaideh'' (1987) Amana Books * ''al-Idrīsī'': hicagoEncyclopædia Britannica, 1974. * ''Wadie Jwaideh collection'', Consists mainly of photocopies of British Foreign Office dispatches from the period between 1836 and 1924.

References

External links

Indiana Daily Student

Kurdish Academy of Language

Kurdish Institute of Paris
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jwaideh, Wadie 1916 births 2001 deaths Iraqi academics Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs alumni Iraqi emigrants to the United States Indiana University faculty