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Amin Maalouf

アミン・マアルーフ

Amin Maalouf

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1949-01-01 （Beirut, Lebanon）
Nationality
Lebanese, French
Languages
French, Arabic
Religion
Melkite Greek Catholic
Residence History
Beirut (birthplace–1975) → Paris (since 1976)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Scholar, Novelist, Perpetual Secretary of the Académie française
Active Years
1970-
Memberships
Académie française, Royal Society of Literature (International Writer)

Awards

Prix Goncourt
1993
Work: The Rock of Tanios (Le Rocher de Tanios)
Organization: Académie Goncourt
Result: 受賞
Prince of Asturias Award for Literature
2010
Category: 文学
Organization: Prince of Asturias Foundation
Result: 受賞
Prix Méditerranée
2004
Work: Origins (Origines)
Organization: Prix Méditerranée
Result: 受賞
Sheikh Zayed Book Award (Cultural Personality of the Year)
2016
Category: 文化的人物賞
Organization: Sheikh Zayed Book Award
Result: 受賞
National Order of Merit
2020
Organization: Government of France
Result: 叙勲
Royal Society of Literature (International Writer)
2021
Category: International Writer
Organization: Royal Society of Literature
Result: 選出
FIL Literary Award in Romance Languages
2025
Category: 文学
Organization: Guadalajara International Book Fair
Result: 受賞
Election to the Académie française
2011
Category: 会員選出
Organization: Académie française
Result: 選出
Perpetual Secretary of the Académie française
2023
Organization: Académie française
Result: 就任

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Leo Africanus (Léon l'Africain)

1986 Historical novel

A historical novel in the form of a 16th-century travelogue, depicting cross-cultural encounters across Africa and the Mediterranean.

MigrationCross-cultural exchangeIdentity

The Rock of Tanios (Le Rocher de Tanios)

1993 Historical novel

Set in 19th-century Lebanon, the novel interweaves regional history and individual destiny, portraying social and political upheavals.

ModernizationCommunityFate

The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (Les Croisades vues par les Arabes)

1983 Non-fiction (History)

Reassesses the Crusades based on contemporaneous Arabic sources, offering an alternative to Eurocentric historical narratives.

Reexamination of historyPlural perspectivesIntercivilizational dialogue

Samarkand (Samarcande)

1988 Historical novel

Set in Central Asia, it interlaces stories and historical fragments related to the poet Omar Khayyam and the city of Samarkand.

MemoryLiterary historyCultural transmission

Bibliography

  • The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (1983)
  • Leo Africanus (1986)
  • Samarkand (1988)
  • The Rock of Tanios (1993)
  • Origins: A Memoir (2004)
  • On the Isle of Antioch (Nos frères inattendus, 2020)

Adaptations

  • L'Amour de loin (libretto for Kaija Saariaho)
  • Adriana Mater (libretto for Kaija Saariaho)
  • La Passion de Simone (libretto for Kaija Saariaho)
  • Émilie (libretto for Kaija Saariaho)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Blending of history and fictionLyrical, refined French proseMediterranean, multilingual and multicultural perspective
Recurring Motifs
Movement and travelIntersection of religion and cultureIdentity and belongingMemory of the past

Legacy

Amin Maalouf is an internationally acclaimed writer from the Middle East who writes in French; through his historical insight and advocacy of intercultural dialogue he has had broad international influence. He is a member and Perpetual Secretary of the Académie française.

Academic Societies

  • Académie française
  • Royal Society of Literature

Quotes

  • “I prefer to write about our past.”
    Source: Interview (excerpt) (2016)

Trivia

  • His nephew is the trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf.
  • Has lived in Paris since 1976.
  • Mother was Egyptian of Turkish origin; father from a Melkite Catholic family.
  • Elected to seat 29 of the Académie française in 2011.