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Mansour Al-Hazmi received his general education in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. Then, he obtained a BA from Cairo University in 1958 and a Ph.D. in modern Arabic literature from the School of African and Oriental Studies at London University in 1966. He became a professor of Arabic Literature at King Saud University in Riyadh in 1978.

Professor Al-Hazmi’s research interests focus on the Arabic historical novel in general, in particular novels and short stories in Saudi Arabia. He authored or co-authored several books and articles in both areas. His academic career spans more than 40 years, during which he held different offices at King Saud University, including Deanships of the College of Arts and the University Studies Center for Women Students. He was also an appointed member of the Saudi Consultative Council.

He is a dynamic participant in cultural and intellectual activities in his country and abroad. He was the first editor-in-chief of Al-Adab, the official journal of the College of Arts at King Saud University, and a member of the editorial board of Al-Dara, a popular cultural magazine printed in Riyadh. He is also a member of the Riyadh Cultural Club, the Board of Trustees of Abd Al-Aziz Al-Babtain Prize for Arabic Poetry (Kuwait) and Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Committee for State Prizes in Arabic Literature.

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

Ibrahim Al-Saafin obtained his BA in Arabic Language and Arts in 1966, MA and Ph.D. in modern Arabic literature from Cairo University in 1978, and a diploma of Education from Kuwait University in 1975.

Professor Al-Saafin currently teaches modern Arabic literature at the College of Arts in the Jordanian University in Amman, and is the Director of its Library. He also served as Vice-Dean of the College of Post Graduate Studies at that University in 1995. Prior to joining the Jordanian University, he was a professor at Al-Yarmouk University for more than 10 years. He also served as a visiting professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville from 1984 until 1985 and the University of Sharjah in the UAE, and the United Arab Emirates University in Al-Ain from 1996 until 1997. He spent a sabbatical year at King Saud University in Riyadh from 1985 until 1986.

Al-Saafin is the President of the Jordanian Society of Literary Criticism, a founding member of the Union of Arab Folklore Researchers, and a member of the Jordanian Writers League and the Board of Trustees of Abd Al-Aziz Al-Babtain Prize for Arabic Poetry. He is also a corresponding member of Aligarh Academy (India) and contributing editor to the Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilization (Language and Literature Section) and several Jordanian literary and research journals. He received the Jerash Festival Award and the Jordanian State Prize for Literature in 1993.

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

Izz Ad-Din Ismail received his BA from Fuad Al-Awal University in 1951, and his master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Ain Shams University in 1959. His academic journey at Ain Shams University started in 1951 and extended for nearly 50 years, during which he became Professor of Arabic Literature in 1972, Dean of the College of Arts in 1980. He also served as Director of the Arab Cultural Center in Bonn (Germany) in 1964, Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council for Culture in 1984, President of the Egyptian Academy of Arts in 1985, Chairman of the Egyptian Book Organization in 1982, and professor or visiting professor at different universities throughout the Arab World.

Professor Ismail’s books (totaling 20) and numerous seminal articles bear witness to his prominence as an intellectual and literary critic. He insightfully associated modern literary concepts with classical views, and was characterized in his writings by profundity and vision, as well as moderation. This allowed him to make significant contributions to both contemporary and traditional schools of Arabic literary criticism. His impact as a literary critic and thinker is best exemplified by his pioneering research embodied in his book: The Aesthetic Foundations of Arabic Literary Criticism. His other literary texts include: Abbasid Poetry; Contemporary Arabic Poetry; Psychology of Literature and Literary and Linguistic Sources of Arabic Heritage. He translated several novels from world literature, including Forster’s 1924 novel: A Passage to India.

Professor Ismail was the founder of the Egyptian Association of Literary Criticism in 1988, the Mobile Library and four literary journals. He was an avid participant in the Egyptian cultural life, and was widely known and respected in academic and cultural circles throughout the Arab world. His contributions were recognized – in addition to the King Faisal International Prize for Arabic Literature – by the Egyptian State Prize for Literature in 1985, and the Order of Sciences and Arts (First Class) in 1990.

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

Abdullah Al-Tayyeb had a remarkable academic career of more than half a century, during which he emerged as one of the most prominent scholars of Arabic literature and language in the 20th Century.

The versatility of Al-Tayyib’s works is best exemplified by his groundbreaking book: A Guide to Understanding Arabic Poetry, an enormous Arabic text, written over a 35-year period. The first three volumes are regarded as the most thorough analysis known of the composition, rhythm, unity and other features of Arabic poetry since pre-Islamic eras. The fourth volume – a landmark text of over 1,500 pages – includes exhaustive details of the role of both ancient and modern Arabic literary critics, the development of the Arabic poem through the centuries, and its impact on European poets from Dante to Andrew Marvel, Blake and the Romantic poets. Professor Al-Tayyeb wrote hundreds of other books and scholarly and literary articles in Arabic and English, covering Arabic poetry, prose, anthology and literary criticism., In addition to his own poems, novels, plays and children’s stories, he also contributed several entries to the British Encyclopedia on prominent modern Arab writers and poets. His other English texts include Heroes of Arabia and Stories from the Sands of Arabia. His radio program on the interpretation and linguistic wonders of the Holy Qur’an continued for 35 years.

Professor Al-Tayyeb was also a prominent academician and administrator. He was Dean of the College of Arts at Khartoum University in 1961, and subsequently Vice-Chancellor of Khartoum and Juba Universities in Sudan in 1965. After his retirement, he was appointed Professor Emeritus at Khartoum University in 1977. He also served as the President of the Arab Language Academy in Khartoum in 1990, and a member of the Arabic Language Academy in Cairo, and was a professor, a visiting professor, or an invited lecturer at several African and Arab universities and other learned institutions. Al-Tayyib’s contributions were recognized by a host of prizes, medals and honorary doctorates.

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

Said Allouche received his bachelor’s degree from Mohammad V University in 1970, and a Doctorate Degree of the Third Cycle and a State Doctorate from the Sorbonne in Paris in 1982. He is currently a Professor of Comparative Literature at the College of Arts in King Mohammed V University in Rabat.

After completing his higher studies, Allouche joined Mohammed V University where he has been teaching for more than 25 years, during which he rose to the status of professor. He chaired the Department of Arabic at the College of Arts in Rabat from 1986 to 1988, and was seconded between 1992 and 1998 to teach at Sultan Qaboos University in Muscat (Oman). He also served as President of the Moroccan Society of Comparative Literature, and a member of the International Society of Comparative Literature, and the Comparative Literature Association.

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

Makarim Al-Ghamri obtained her BA from the College of Linguistics at Ain Shams University in Cairo in 1967, and a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Moscow University in 1973. Her academic career extends over 30 years during which she served as Professor of Comparative Russian Literature at the College of Linguistics in Ain Shams University, Chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Director of the Translation Department, Vice-Dean and Dean of the College of Linguistics. She added new departments and a center for Chinese Studies. She is a member of the Translation Committee of the Supreme Council for Culture in Egypt, the Egyptian Chapter of the International Pen Club and the Egyptian Society of Comparative Literature.

Her works include: Russian Novel in the 19th Century, and Arabic and Islamic effects on Russian Literature in addition to translations of several Russian articles, novels and plays such as War and Peace by Bulgakov, Alive Forever by Remizov and several works of the 19th Century Russian playwright Aleksandr Ostrvskii (1823-1886). Professor Al-Ghamri also participates actively in the cultural life of Cairo through her writings and participation in cultural radio and television programs.

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

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.

Salma Al- Haffar was one of the foremost Arab woman novelists and defenders of women’s rights and equality. Her father, Lutfi al-Haffar, was a Syrian prime minister during the French Mandate, and subsequently an avid supporter of Syrian independence. Although she was born during a time when it was against social norms for women to attend school, she was able, with her father’s support, to receive an excellent education in French and English at an elite Franciscan school in Damascus. Meanwhile, she studied and commanded Arabic under a distinguished Lebanese publisher, Mary Ajami, who encouraged her to write.

Al-Kowzbari published her first article at the age of 17 and had since written novels, short stories, and biographies in Arabic, and poetry in French. Following extensive travel in Latin America and Spain, she also gained interest in Spanish studies, particularly the Andalusian legacy. Her first book, an autobiography titled Hala’s Diaries in 1950 was translated to French and was eventually followed by another autobiography, Amber and Ashes. Her greatest passion, however, was to study the early 20th Century women’s rights heroine and literary figure, Mai Ziadeh. She spent 17 years researching Miss Ziadeh. She discovered previously unpublished documents, letters, and manuscripts from Ziadeh, including her two-decade correspondence with Kahlil Gibran. Her works on Ziadeh include Mai Ziadeh and the Tragedy of Genius in 1961, Accomplished Women in 1961.

Al-Kowzbari lived in Marbella, Spain, writing and lecturing in Arab and Western countries. In addition to the King Faisal  International Prize for Arabic Literature, she received a medal from the Spanish government in 1964, and the Mediterranean Literature Award from the University of Palermo in 1980 for her Arabic and Andalusian studies.

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

Mohammed Abu Al-Anwar obtained his BA in Arabic language and literature in 1960, then proceeded with graduate research, completing an MA in literary studies and a Ph.D. in the history of Arabic literature from Dar Al-Ulum college in Cairo University. Following his graduation in 1971, he pursued an academic career and rose to the rank of professor of Arabic literature in 1980, and Chairman of the Literary Studies Department in Dar Al Ulum in 1985. He was seconded for various periods to teach Arabic Literature in Sudan and Saudi Arabia.

Professor Ali authored numerous research articles and literary essays and more than 10 books focusing primarily on the development of Arabic poetry through different phases of history, from the pre-Islamic era to the present. One of his most important contributions on contemporary Arab writers is his book Mustafa Lutfi Al-Manfalouti, a carefully researched 3-volume documentation of the life and works of this influential writer. Dr. Ali was an avid participant in Egypt’s cultural life and had served on prestigious committees and councils in his country, including memberships of Egypt’s Supreme Council for Culture and Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in 1981. He was also a founding member of the Union of Egyptian Writers.

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

Hamdi El-Sakkout received a bachelor’s degree in Arabic Language and Literature from Cairo University, a Diploma of Education from Ain Shams University, and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University in the U.K. He is a distinguished scholar and a former Professor of Modern Arabic Literature and the Director of Research and Arabic Studies Centers at the American University in Cairo (AUC).

Professor Al-Sakkout’s publications cover a wide range of literary issues, including editions and translations of Arabic documents of the Ottoman period, studies of the Egyptian novel and short story, and current trends in literary criticism. He is credited for his detailed bibliographic study of the life and works of Abbas Mahmud Al-Aqqad, one of the most celebrated modern Arab writers. The book is part of a series of exhaustive bibliographic studies entitled Leaders of Contemporary Arab Literature in Egypt. Five other volumes, comprising bibliographies of Taha Hussayn, Ibrahim Abd al-Gadir al-Mazini, Abd al-Rahman Shukri, Muhammad Hussayn Haikal, and Tawfiq al-Hakim, were co-authored with the late Professor Marsden Jones. He also edited The Modern Arabic Novel: Bibliography and Critical Introduction, an immense 6-volume text covering more than 4,600 individual novels written in Arabic from 1865 to 1995.

Professor Al-Sakkout is a member of leading cultural organizations in Egypt, a life member of Claire Hall at Cambridge University, a former Visiting Professor to the University of California, Berkeley and Washington University in Seattle and organizer of the AUC Arabic Cultural Program.

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