2024-02-18T18:06:59+00:00
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/ The daughter of the Egyptian writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature, Umm Kulthum Naguib Mahfouz, donated his private library to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in preparation for making the late writer’s legacy available to researchers, scholars, and those interested in literary affairs.
The Alexandria Library said in a statement followed by Agency: “The donated library includes nearly 1,500 books, ranging from novels, dictionaries, and encyclopedias in several languages.”
Ahmed Zayed, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, said, “The library’s donated holdings gain their true importance from the fact that they are Naguib Mahfouz’s private library, as some of the books bear his signature or the signatures of those who donated their works to him, from among the great writers and thinkers in Egypt and the world.”
He explained that “among the donated items are certificates, documents, and personal photos, in addition to videotapes of fictional works based on his novels and writings.”
He continued, “It will certainly be a real addition to the visitors and patrons of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, by giving them the opportunity to get closer to a global literary figure of the stature of the Nobel laureate. It will also provide a space of knowledge for those who have not gotten close to his literature and thought as they should.”
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which Egypt revived in 2002 on a site close to where the famous library once stood, includes dozens of private libraries belonging to politicians, thinkers and writers such as former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the late journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal and legal scholar Abdel Razak El-Sanhouri.
Mohammed Suleiman, head of the cultural communication sector at the library, said: “The experts will inventory the books, classify them, catalogue them and place them in the database, and restore what needs to be restored, as well as inventory the signatures that were on many of them, and who are the people who signed them.”
He pointed out that “in his opinion, this represents a form of history of modern Egypt through clippings, dedications, writings and notes in Naguib Mahfouz’s handwriting.”
He pointed out that “the library will remain in contact with the daughter of the late writer to obtain some of his personal belongings to use them in the scenario of the show, which will contribute to its best appearance.” Mahfouz, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988, died in Cairo in 2006 at the age of 94.