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Hussein Ali Mahfoudh (Arabic: حسين علي محفوظ; 3 May 1926 – 19 January 2009) was an Iraqi scholar and author in the field of Semitic languages and Historical studies. He was known as the Shaykh of Baghdad.

Early life

Mahfouz was born in Quraysh Avenue, in Al Kadhimiya, Baghdad into a Shia Muslim family. His father died when he was a child, and so he was raised by his mother and uncle. In elementary school he began writing and translating texts from English to Arabic.

Academic career

After graduating from high school, Mahfouz was accepted at Dar Al-Maualemen (the House of Teachers) college in Baghdad; he graduated in 1948. He then went on to receive his Ph.D. in Comparative literature from the University of Tehran in 1952. After returning to Iraq in 1956 he was appointed as a professor in Dar Al-Maualemen Al-'Aali (the House of Teachers for higher studies), and an inspector of Arabic language in the ministry of knowledge.

In 1961 Mahfouz moved to the USSR to teach Arabic language and literature at Leningrad State University. In 1969 he established the department of Oriental studies at the College of Literature of the University of Baghdad.

Later career

Mahfouz retired from teaching in the late 1990s. He kept a position as a judge of Masters and Ph.D. candidates, until the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. He died in Kadhimiya hospital at the age of 83 with a bibliography of almost 1500 books and articles.

It was claimed by Salem al-Alusi that the late President (Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr) demanded recovery of the remains of Harun al-Rashid al-Khalifa; claiming them to be a symbol of Baghdad during its golden age. This request was furthered by the former minister, Abdul Jabbar Jomard, however, Iran refused and in contest asked to retrieve the remains of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gilani, given that he was born in Iran. It was during this time that Hussein Ali Mahfouz made a statement about the matter, in Jalawla Festival held by the Union of Arab Historians, infering that it wasn't definitive whether the birthplace village of the Sheikh was in Iran territory. Intervention forces later closed the subject.

References

1. ^ Al-Ani, Taha. "Husayn Ali Mahfoudh.. Shaykh Baghdad Wa Thakirat al-Tarikh". www.aljazeera.net (in Arabic). Retrieved 2023-06-14.
2. Al-Saffar, Taher. "Al Allama al-Diktor Husayn Ali Mahfoudh .. Thakirat al-Tarikh". Imam Husayn Holy Shrine (in Arabic). Retrieved 2023-06-14.
3. Muhammad, Muhammad-Taher. "Ali Mahfoudh.. Shaykh Baghdad Wal Mawsoo'a al-Mutahrika". annabaa.org. Retrieved 2023-06-14.
4. Dabbagh, Jamal (2019). شيخ بغداد :: الأستاذ الدكتور حسين علي محفوظ (١٩٢٦-٢٠٠٩ م) / (in Arabic). al-Amānah al-ʻĀmmah lil-ʻAtabah al-Kāẓimīyah al-Muqaddasah, Qism al-Shuʼūn al-Fikrīyah wa-al-Thaqāfīyah.
5. (ذكرى وفاة محي التراث الدكتور حسين علي محفوظ (1926-2009 (in Arabic). Open School. 2009.
6. "حوار مع شيخ الأساتذة الأستاذ الدكتور والبروفيسور... حسين علي محفوظ - مركز النور". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
7. "حسين علي محفوظ". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
8. مدیر. "الدكتور حسين علي محفوظ ونظرية التقريب بين المذاهب الاسلامية - پیشوایان تقریب". Retrieved 5 October 2014.
9. "رحيل الباحث العراقي حسين علي محفوظ". alittihad.ae. 20 January 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
10. Tucker, Spencer (2010). The Encyclopedia of Middle East Wars: The United States in the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq Conflicts. 1. ABC-CLIO. pp. 191–192. ISBN 978-1-85109-947-4

• 1926 births
• Iraqi Shia Muslims
• Academic staff of the University of Baghdad
• Iraqi translators
• 2009 deaths
• University of Tehran alumni
• Semiticists
• Iraqi academics
• 20th-century translators
• Academic staff of Saint Petersburg State University
• Scholars of Persian literature