Ihsan Abdel Quddous
Encyclopedia
Ihsan Abdel Quddous (January 1, 1919 – January 11, 1990) was an Egypt
ian writer
, novelist, and journalist
and editor in the Al Akhbar and Al-Ahram
newspapers. He is known to have written many novels that have been adapted in films.
family of Turkish
-Egyptian ancestry. His favorite hobby as a child was reading. At the age of eleven, he started writing short stories and classical poems. His father, Mohamed Abdel Quddous, an Egyptian theatre and film actor, motivated him to pursue a career in law
. Ihsan graduated from law school
in 1942 and worked as a lawyer
. He was, at the beginning of his career, a trainee for the law firm of Edward Qussairi, a famous Egyptian lawyer. He was also an editor
in Rose al Youssef, a weekly magazine
that his mother Fatima al Youssef (aka Rosa al Youssef) had founded.
s. He later left his law career to focus on his literary career. A few years later, he became a distinguished journalist in the Al Akhbar newspaper, where he worked for eight years. He then worked in the Al-Ahram
newspaper and became its editor-in-chief. He often criticized important personalities, which got him imprisoned three times throughout his journalism career.
Ihsan regarded women as symbols of sacrifice in the Egyptian society which was why women were the central theme of his literary works. His works influentially contributed to bring change in the conventional concepts in Egypt. Contrary to his literary works, he was a very conservative person. He was known to have a resisting personality and had been a strict husband and father in his house. He wrote more than 60 novels and collections of short stories. Of his novels, five were dramatized, nine were used as radio
series scripts, ten had television miniseries
adaptations, and 49 had film adaptation
s. His works have been translated to several foreign languages including the English
, French
, German
, Ukrainian
, and Chinese
languages. Ihsan also co-founded the Egyptian Story Club.
Ihsan Abdel Quddous died on Thursday January 12, 1990 after suffering a stroke.
His son, Mohamed Ihsan Abdel Quddous, named after his grandfather, is a well-known journalist.
One of Ihsan's first articles was an attack on the British Ambassador Miles Lampson (Lord Killearn). He won early fame by writing articles exposing the government's role in providing the troops with defective arms during the Palestine War for which he was imprisoned. Ihsan was jailed again in 1954 after writing an article, titled "al-jam'iyya al-sir-riyya al-lati tahkum Misr," that revealed Nasser's machinations in the March Crisis.
with an Order of Merit of the First Class. Shortly after his death in 1990, the incumbent Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak
honored him with an Order of the Republic of the First Class.
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, novelist, and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and editor in the Al Akhbar and Al-Ahram
Al-Ahram
Al-Ahram , founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya . It is majority owned by the Egyptian government....
newspapers. He is known to have written many novels that have been adapted in films.
Early life and education
Abdel Quddous was born to a MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
family of Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
-Egyptian ancestry. His favorite hobby as a child was reading. At the age of eleven, he started writing short stories and classical poems. His father, Mohamed Abdel Quddous, an Egyptian theatre and film actor, motivated him to pursue a career in law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
. Ihsan graduated from law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
in 1942 and worked as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
. He was, at the beginning of his career, a trainee for the law firm of Edward Qussairi, a famous Egyptian lawyer. He was also an editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
in Rose al Youssef, a weekly magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
that his mother Fatima al Youssef (aka Rosa al Youssef) had founded.
Literary and journalism career
In 1944, he started writing film scripts, short stories, and novelNovel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s. He later left his law career to focus on his literary career. A few years later, he became a distinguished journalist in the Al Akhbar newspaper, where he worked for eight years. He then worked in the Al-Ahram
Al-Ahram
Al-Ahram , founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya . It is majority owned by the Egyptian government....
newspaper and became its editor-in-chief. He often criticized important personalities, which got him imprisoned three times throughout his journalism career.
Ihsan regarded women as symbols of sacrifice in the Egyptian society which was why women were the central theme of his literary works. His works influentially contributed to bring change in the conventional concepts in Egypt. Contrary to his literary works, he was a very conservative person. He was known to have a resisting personality and had been a strict husband and father in his house. He wrote more than 60 novels and collections of short stories. Of his novels, five were dramatized, nine were used as radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
series scripts, ten had television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
adaptations, and 49 had film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
s. His works have been translated to several foreign languages including the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Ukrainian
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
, and Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
languages. Ihsan also co-founded the Egyptian Story Club.
Ihsan Abdel Quddous died on Thursday January 12, 1990 after suffering a stroke.
His son, Mohamed Ihsan Abdel Quddous, named after his grandfather, is a well-known journalist.
One of Ihsan's first articles was an attack on the British Ambassador Miles Lampson (Lord Killearn). He won early fame by writing articles exposing the government's role in providing the troops with defective arms during the Palestine War for which he was imprisoned. Ihsan was jailed again in 1954 after writing an article, titled "al-jam'iyya al-sir-riyya al-lati tahkum Misr," that revealed Nasser's machinations in the March Crisis.
Awards and honors
Ihsan Abdel Quddous received his first award for writing the novel My Blood, My Tears, My Smile in 1973. Two years later, in 1975, he received a Best Screenplay award for his novel The Bullet is Still in my Pocket. He was honored by the former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel NasserGamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
with an Order of Merit of the First Class. Shortly after his death in 1990, the incumbent Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....
honored him with an Order of the Republic of the First Class.