AMMAN, Thursday, April 20, 2023 (WAFA) - Salma Khadra Jayyusi, a renowned Palestinian poet, writer, translator and anthologist, died today in Amman, Jordan, at the age of 95.

Palestinian Minister of Culture, Atef Abu Seif, mourned Jayyusi, saying her death is a great loss for the Palestinian and Arab culture. He commended her prominent role and active contribution to the Palestinian, Jordanian and Arab literary content.

With the passing away of Jayyousi, said Abu Seif, the Palestinian culture lost an intellectual icon who had great contributions to poetry, literature, anthology and translation.

Born in 1928 in Safed to a Palestinian father and a Lebanese mother, Jayyusi grew up in Acre and the Baqa’a neighborhood of Jerusalem. Following the Nakba of 1948, she moved to Jordan.

Jayyusi studied high school at the German Schmidt College in Jerusalem, then studied Arabic and English literature at the American University of Beirut. After her studies, she returned to Jerusalem and taught at Dar Al Moalemat College.

Growing up, Jayyusi attended the Ma’muniyya School in Jerusalem and the Government School in Acre, followed by Schmidt College for Girls in Jerusalem for her high school education.

She was known for her sharp intelligence from a young age. Jayyusi married Burhan Jayyusi in 1946, and together they had a son, Usama, and two daughters, Lina and May.

Jayyusi received her Ph.D. in Arabic literature from the University of London and taught Arabic literature in many Arab and foreign universities, including those in Khartoum, Algeria, Constantine, Utah, Michigan, Washington and Texas.

She has received numerous prestigious awards, such as the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural and Scientific Achievement Award, the Edward Said Award for Career Excellence, and an award from Kuwait for distinguished services to Arab and Islamic culture. Jayyusi is the founder and director of East-West Nexus and the Project of Translation from Arabic (PROTA).

M.N