Autobiography

Jurji Zaidan started to write his autobiography a few years before his unexpected death at the age of 53. He was unable to complete it. It covered only the first twenty years of his life and ends when he leaves Beirut to start what was to become a new life in Egypt. But it tells a lot about the man and the inner strivings that drove him to become one of the leaders of the Arab Renaissance.

The autobiography was translated by Thomas Philipp as part of his book on Gurji Zaidan. His Life and Thought. Wiesbaden, Germany: Steiner Verlag, 1979 for which he wrote an introduction. It is followed by selected letters on subjects that were dealt with in his autobiography and that Zaidan wrote mostly to his son Emile while he was studying at the American University in Beirut.

To read Thomas Philipp’s introduction to the autobiography click here.

To read Jurji Zaidan’s autobiography click here.

To read selected letters by Jurji Zaidan click here.