Amin al-Rihani
Amin al-Rihani (أمين الريحاني; englisch auch Ameen Rihani; * 1876 in Freike, Libanon; † 13. September 1940 in Freike) war ein libanesischer Schriftsteller.
Er wurde als ältestes von sechs Kindern des maronitischen Seidenfabrikanten Al-Rihani geboren und wanderte im Alter von zwölf Jahren nach New York City aus. Er setzte dort seine meist autodidaktische Ausbildung fort und arbeitete im Exporthandelsgeschäft seines Vaters. Er beschäftigte sich früh mit Literatur.
Er reiste mehrmals in seine Heimat und in die Nachbarstaaten. Er wurde ein persönlicher Freund von Ibn Saud, den späteren König Saudi-Arabiens. Er gilt als Theoretiker des arabischen Nationalismus sowie der arabischen Einheit und setzte sich für die Säkularisierung der arabischen Staaten ein. Er unterstützte ebenso die Palästinensische Frage zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts. Al-Rihani war ein wichtiger Vertreter der Mahjar-Literaturbewegung, die von arabischen Emigranten in Nordamerika entwickelt wurde.
Werke
- The Holy Land: Whose to Have and to Hold? in: The Bookman, XLVI (September 1917), 8–14
- Palestine Arabs Claim To Be Fighting For National Existence, in: Current History, XXXI (November 1919), 269–279
- Zionism and the Peace of the World, in The Nation CXXIX (October 2, 1929)
- Is Palestine Safe for Zionism, in: Palestine and Transjordan, I (November 21, 1936)
- Palestine and the Proposed Arab Federation, in: Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, (November 1932)
Literatur
- Lawrence Davidson: Debating Palestine. Arab American Challenges to Zionism 1917–1932. in Michael Suleiman ed. Arabs in America: Building a New Future Temple UP, Philadelphia 1999, S. 227–240
- Maher Charif: Rihanat al-Nahda fi'l-fikr al-`arabi, Dar al-Mada, Damascus 2000
- C. Ernest Dawn: The Origins of Arab Nationalism. in Rashid Khalidi & L. Anderson & M. Muslih Hgg.: The Origins of Arab Nationalism. Columbia UP, New York 1991, S. 11
- Samir Kassir: Histoire de Beyrouth. Fayard, Paris, S. 394
Weblinks
- Literatur von und über Amin al-Rihani im Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
- Sammlung von Informationen über Rihani, Biographie
| Personendaten | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Rihani, Amin al- |
| ALTERNATIVNAMEN | أمين الريحاني; Rihani, Ameen |
| KURZBESCHREIBUNG | libanesischer Schriftsteller |
| GEBURTSDATUM | 1876 |
| GEBURTSORT | Freike, Libanon |
| STERBEDATUM | 13. September 1940 |
| STERBEORT | Freike |
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Amin al-Rihani, Photograph, al-Funun 1, no. 7 (October 1913)
Amin al-Rihani was born in the village of al-Furaykah, Lebanon in 1876. He lived there 12 years before he emigrated with his uncle to New York City to join his father who had opened up a shop that served the flourishing peddling trade in which the majority of Lebanese-Syrian immigrants engaged. Amin’s early years in New York were governed by his work as a clerk in his father’s shop. However, this occupation did not suit the young Amin and he ran away at 18 to join a traveling theatrical troupe. This troupe folded a short time later and Amin was forced to return home.
During his early years, in addition to his helping his father and his theatrical interests, Amin studied law briefly—all the while working to improve his English as many of the younger generation of emigrants did in order to fit into American society.1
When he achieved a mastery of the English language, he began publishing a number of works in English. His monograph “The Book of Khalid,” published in 1911, is an example of his English material.
Al-Funun provided Amin, as it did Gibran and the other Arab-American writers of his day, the ability to publish their literary and artistic material in a journal devoted to the Arts. Previously, each writer could only publish bits and pieces of their work, which had to appear along with material that had no relationship to it.
For further information about Amin al-Rihani, visit the site devoted to him at: www.ameenrihani.org.