Who are you looking for?

Install Famoose

Keep Famoose on your home screen or desktop for easy access.

Open this site in Chrome or Edge and look for Install app in the browser menu or address bar. If no install option appears, you can bookmark Famoose instead.

Famoose.co
Appearance
Text size
Page width
Colour
Discover›Literature
Contents
Ali Ahmad Bakathir
Writer

Ali Ahmad Bakathir

Famoose for

Arabic verse drama and historical fiction.

Romeo and Juliet · Epic of Omar

Born
21 December 1910
Birthplace
Surabaya
Died
10 November 1969

More people

Jane AustenWriting Pride and Prejudice and Emma.Charles DickensWriting Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol.Toni MorrisonWriting Beloved and winning the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Ali Ahmad Bakathir

Indonesian-born writer of Hadrami origin who settled in Egypt. His work spans poetry, plays, historical novels and translation from English.

Early life

Hadramaut education

Moved from Surabaya to Hadramaut as a child. Studied Arabic and religious subjects and began composing poetry in his teens.

Career

  1. 1934

    Egypt

    Arrived and entered university study.

  2. 1939

    English degree

    Graduated from King Fuad I University.

  3. 1940s–1950s

    Teaching and writing

    Worked as an English teacher while developing his literary career.

Selected work

Romeo and Juliet

Translated Shakespeare into Arabic blank verse.

Epic of Omar

Created an extended historical dramatic work.

Wa Islamah

Wrote the historical novel known as Oh Islam!

Beyond work

Migration and loss

The death of his first wife preceded travels through Aden, East Africa and the Hejaz. He later married and settled in Egypt.

Sources & photo creditBiography and career ↗Biographical references ↗

Original photograph. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.

Photo: Not credited. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.