The web search engine Google is celebrating on Sunday the 121st anniversary of the birth of Taha Hussein, the man nicknamed the Dean of Arabic Literature. Google has replaced the second “O” in its name with the face of the renowned author. Author and Critic, Hussein died in 1973 but not before transforming Arab literature and providing a valuable and pioneering contribution to autobiographical work with his book Al-Ayyam (The Days), published in 1929. Hussein is also a leader of the Arab Renaissance and modernist movements in the Arab World. Born in Minya, he later attended Al-Azhar University, where he was educated in religion and Arabic literature. Hussein was the seventh of thirteen children, hailing from a lower-middle class family. He became blind at the age of three due to faulty medical treatment. In 1942, he was appointed adviser to the Egyptian Minister of Education and, in 1955, assumed the ministerial position. Hussein pressed for free education for all Egyptians. President Gamal Abdel Nasser bestowed on him the highest Egyptian decoration, typically reserved for heads of state. Among his most important works are Fi Tagdeed Zekra Abi al-Alaa, The Memory of Abu al-Alaa, Maa al-Motanabbi (Together with al-Motanabi) and Gannat al-Shawk (Paradise of Thorn). Hussein translated a number of important books into Arabic. His own books were translated into several languages.
