الشرق الفنان

One of the most prominent Arab philosophers and thinkers in the twentieth century, and one of the pioneers of logical positivism. Al-Akkad described him as “a philosopher of writers and a writer of philosophers; He is a thinker who formulates his thought into literature, and a writer who makes his literature into philosophy.” Zaki Naguib Mahmoud was born in the village of Mit El-Khouli Abdullah in Damietta Governorate on the first of February 1905 AD, and joined the village writers. Then he graduated from the High School of Teachers in the Literary Department in 1930 AD, and in 1944 AD he was sent on a mission to England during which he obtained a “Bachelor of Honors of the First Class” in Philosophy from the University of London; Immediately after that, he obtained a PhD in Philosophy from King's College London in 1947. He taught at several Arab and international universities; He taught in the Department of Philosophy at the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University, Columbia University in South Carolina, Pullman University in Washington State, Beirut Arab University in Lebanon, and several universities in Kuwait. He was also appointed cultural attaché at the Egyptian Embassy in Washington in 1954 and 1955. He was selected as a member of many cultural and intellectual committees; He was a member of the Philosophy and Poetry committees of the Supreme Council for the Sponsorship of Arts, Letters and Social Sciences, the National Council for Culture, and the National Council for Education and Scientific Research. He joined the committee of authoring, translation and publishing to co-publish with Ahmed Amin a series of books on philosophy and the history of literature in a clear and easy way for the public intellectual. He received many awards and honors for his works, including: the Literary Excellence Award from the Ministry of Education (now Education) in 1939 AD for his book “The Land of Dreams”, and the State Encouragement Award in Philosophy in 1960 AD for his book “Towards a Scientific Philosophy”, and the Order of Arts and Letters from Tabqa The first in 1960, the State Appreciation Award in Literature in 1975, the Republic Medal of the First Class in 1975, the Arab Culture Award from the League of Arab States in 1984, and the Sultan bin Ali Al Owais Award in 1991. The American University in Cairo awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1985. He is the author of many books on philosophy, including: "Positive Logic", "A Position on Metaphysics", and "A Window on the Philosophy of the Age". He has several books that affect our intellectual and cultural life, including: “The Renewal of Arab Thought,” “In Our Mental Life,” and “In Modernizing Arab Culture.” His literary books include: "The Earth Comedy" and "The Paradise of the Abbey". He presented his intellectual biography in three books: “The Story of Nafs,” “The Story of the Mind,” and “The Harvest of the Years.” This is in addition to his translations. He died in Cairo on September 8, 1993 AD at the age of eighty-eight, after he left his prominent imprints in our intellectual life and philosophical vision.