Cairo: Head of the Cairo-based Arabic Language Academy and veteran Egyptian literary critic Salah Fadl has died after a fight with illness, local media reported. He was 84. The prestigious academy paid tribute to Fadl, describing him as a major figure in Arabic thought and literature.
“He had a march full of dedication and accomplishment as he was a literary critic well-versed in arts of Arabic literature and comparative literature,” the institution said in a statement on Saturday.
Born in an Egyptian Delta village in March 1938, Fadl majored in the Arabic language and literature at the Cairo University where he graduated in 1962.
Later, he went on a scholarship to Spain where he obtained a doctoral degree in literature.
During his academic career, Fadl, who was also a translator, taught at several universities inside Egypt and abroad including Bahrain, Yemen and Mexico.
He also served as Egypt’s cultural attache. In 2003, he was elected a member of the Arabic Language Academy that he headed in 2020.
He penned several books in literary criticism and translated a set of Spanish classics into Arabic.
