Zayd Mutee' Dammaj (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: زيد مطيع دماج) (1943 - March 20, 2000) was a

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

i author and politician. He is best known for his short novel '' The Hostage'' which was selected by the

Arab Writers Union The Arab Writers Union (ar.: اتحاد الكتاب العرب) is an association of Arab writers, founded in 1969, in Damascus, Syria, at the initiative of a group of Arab writers including Syrian novelist Hanna Mina. In 2008, the union was mo ...

as one of the top 100 Arabic novels of the 20th century.

Life and work

Dammaj was born in As Sayyani District of

Ibb Governorate Ibb ( ') is a governorate of Yemen. It is located in the inland south of the country with Ta'izz Governorate to the southwest, Ad Dali' Governorate to the southeast, Dhamar Governorate to the north, and short borders with Al Bayda' Governorate t ...

."Zayd Mutee Dammaj Biography (1943-2000)"
Dammaj.net. His father Sheikh Mutee' bin Abdullah Dammaj was a committed revolutionary activist against the rule of

Imam Yahya Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-Din (or Imam Yahya) (, 18 June 1869 – 17 February 1948) was the first king of the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen from 1918 until his assassination in 1948. He became Imam of the Zaydis, a branch of Shia Islam, in 1904 af ...

and went on to establish a political party named Al-Ahrar in

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

in 1943. He was imprisoned that year in Al-Shabakah Prison, located in Taiz province, for his political activities. However, in April 1944 managed to escape on foot to Aden. Sheikh Mutee' continued his struggle against the Imamate regime and became the first governor of

after the revolution of 1962. The young Dammaj was educated in the village

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

and at home, before his father sent him to a school in

Taiz Taiz () is a city in southwestern Yemen. It is located in the Yemeni highlands, near the port city of Mocha on the Red Sea, at an elevation of about above sea level. It is the capital of Taiz Governorate. As of 2023, the city has an estimated p ...

, where he boarded with friends of his father. In 1958, Dammaj went to Egypt where he studied in schools in

Bani Suwayf Beni Suef ( the capital city of the Beni Suef Governorate in Egypt. The city is the location of Beni Suef University. An important agricultural trade centre on the west bank of the Nile River, the city is located 110 km (70 miles) south of C ...

and

Tanta Tanta ( ' ) is a city in Egypt. Tanta had a population of 658,798 in 2018, making it the fifth most populous city in Egypt. Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria: north of Cairo and southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia Gove ...

, before enrolling in

Cairo University Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...

in 1964. He studied law for a couple of years before deciding to switch to journalism. He had already started to write political articles and short fiction that was published in the ''New Yemen'' periodical. In 1968, still in the middle of his studies, he was summoned back home to participate in the anti-royalist movement with his father. In 1970, Dammaj was elected to the

Shura Council In Arab culture, a Majlis-ash-Shura (; Shura Council in English) is an advisory council or consultative council. In Islamic context, the Majlis-ash-Shura is one of two ways that a khalifa (Islamic leader) may be selected, the other way being b ...

, regarded as Yemen's first elected parliament, as a representative of his native district of As-Sayyani. His political rise continued: in 1976 he was appointed governor of the Mahweet governorate, and in 1980 he became Yemen's ambassador to

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

. In 1982, he cemented his place in Yemen's political hierarchy when he was elected to the Permanent Committee of the General People’s Congress, the ruling party at the time. Parallel to his political career, Dammaj also pursued a career as a literary writer. His first volume of

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

was published in 1973, while ''Al-Rahinah'' (The Hostage) was published in 1984.Dammāj, Zayd Muṭīʻ
"The hostage: a novel"
("Al-Rahinah", English tr.: May; Tingley, Christopher. 1994.) Interlink Pub Group Inc. . (Google books) It went through multiple printings in Arabic and has since been translated into French, English, German and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, among others. It is widely regarded as the most famous Yemeni novel and a classic of modern

Arabic literature Arabic literature ( / ALA-LC: ''al-Adab al-‘Arabī'') is the writing, both as prose and poetry, produced by writers in the Arabic language. The Arabic word used for literature is ''Adab (Islam), Adab'', which comes from a meaning of etiquett ...

. Dammaj was 57 when he died on March 20, 2000, in

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. His eldest son Hamdan Dammag is a Yemeni/British computer scientist and a prize-winner novelist, who has also published several books of poetry and short stories.

Books

* '' Tahish al-Huban'' (1973), short story collection * ''Al-'Aqrab (The Scorpion)'' (1982), short story collection * ''Al-Rahinah (The Hostage)'' (1984), novel. English translation by and Christopher Tingley. * ''The Bridge'' (1986), short story collection * '' The Sorrows of the Girl Mayyasa'' (1990), short story collection * ''Al-Inbihar wa Al-Dahshah (The Amazement and the Astonishment)'' (2000), memoirs * ''Al-Madfa' Al-Asfar (The Yellow Cannon)'' (2001), short story collection * ''Al-Madrasah Al-Ahmadiyah (The Ahmadi School)'', novel—not complete.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dammaj, Zayd Mutee Yemeni writers 20th-century Yemeni politicians 1943 births 2000 deaths Ambassadors of Yemen to Kuwait People from Ibb Governorate 20th-century Yemeni novelists Governors of Al Mahwit Governorate