Biographies: Ahmad Shawqy - Writer

Biographies

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Egyptian poet and playwright, born in Cairo on December 25, 1868, into a well-off family well-connected with the court of the Khedive of Egypt. At the age of four, he was educated at the Sheikh Saleh Koranic School in the Sayyidah Zainab neighborhood. He then joined an elementary school, and after that, he joined the secondary preparatory school, where he studied for free as a reward for his excellence. He completed high school and then studied law. He was then offered a job in the court of the Khedive Abbas II. After a year, he traveled to France to complete his studies, and he lived there for 3 years. Shawqi returned to Egypt in early 1894 and joined Khedive Tewfik's entourage. He wrote the first part of "Al Shawqiyat" in 1898, and it was published in 1890. The British forced him into exile to Andalusia in 1914 after the First World War broke out. In the last years of his life, he produced his plays, the most important of which are Cleopatra's Death and Mad About Laila. He died on October 14, 1932, leaving the Arab nation an immortal poetic heritage.

• 22 November 2021
• Christina Aziz