Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohamad Al Jasir

Hamad Al-Jasir was a prominent writer and a world authority on the history, geography and culture of Arabia. He was educated in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. His remarkable career spanned more than 60 years, during which he emerged as one of the most talented journalists and writers of our time. He authored more than 1,200 articles and numerous books dealing with different aspects of the Arabian society and including detailed analyses of more than 30 works written by early Arab travelers and pilgrims. Among his most important contributions in that respect are his scholastic 3-volume study of Al-Durar al-Farida, by Abd al-Gadir al-Jaziri (16th century A.H.), and Kitab al-Manasik, attributed to Al- Harbi, an Arab traveler of the 8th century A.H.

For more than three decades, Shaikh Al-Jasir was the publisher of Al Yamama, the first newspaper published in Riyadh and Al-Arab magazine, a popular and rich source of information on the life and culture of Saudi Arabia. He also founded Al-Riyadh Printing Press, the first press in the Saudi capital, and Dar Al-Yamama, a research, publishing and translating center that focuses on the history and geography of the Arabian peninsula. One of the major publications that emerged from Dar Al-Yamama was Al-Jasir’s own Geographic Encyclopedia of Saudi Arabian Lands.

Shaikh Al-Jasir’s impact as a writer and publisher earned him prestige among his peers. In addition to the King Faisal  International Prize for Arabic Literature, he received several awards including Saudi Arabian State Prize in Arts in 1988, and King Abd Al-Aziz Order in 1995. He was elected member of the Arabic Language academies of Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo in 1950, the Islamic Academy in Aligarh and the Royal Jordanian Academy for Research in Islamic Civilization.

This biography was written in the year the prize was awarded.