Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Literature & Poetry

7

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Kamal Khujandi

کمال خجندی

Tajikistan

c. 1320 – 1400 (80 years old)

Celebrated 14th-century Persian Sufi poet of Tabriz whose delicate, musical ghazals rivaled those of his contemporary Hafez of Shiraz.

Tabriz, Iran

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Literature & Poetry

40

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Luo Guanzhong

羅貫中

China

c. 1330 – c. 1400 (70 years old)

Pioneering Chinese novelist of the Yuan-Ming transition who wrote Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.

Qingxu, China

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Literature & Poetry

23

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Yahya ibn Khaldun

يحيى بن خلدون

Tunisia

1334 – 1379 (45 years old)

Distinguished historian and younger brother of Ibn Khaldun, who served as prime minister and court chronicler of the Zayyanid Kingdom of Tlemcen and authored Bughyat al-Ruwwad.

Tlemcen, Algeria

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Literature & Poetry

46

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Giovanni Boccaccio

Giovanni Boccaccio

Italy

16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375 (62 years old)

Pioneering Florentine Renaissance humanist and author of The Decameron, who captured the tragedy of the 1348 Black Death and forged European storytelling prose through one hundred lively, witty tales of human wit, eros, and resilience.

Certaldo (Tuscany), Italy

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Literature & Poetry

39

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Francesco Petrarca

Francesco Petrarca

Italy

1304 – 1374 (69 years old)

Italian scholar and poet recognized as the 'Father of Humanism', whose Canzoniere established the Petrarchan sonnet and sparked the European Renaissance.

Arquà Petrarca, Italy

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Literature & Poetry

19

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Lisan al-Din ibn al-Khatib

لسان الدين بن الخطيب

Spain

1313 – 1374 (60 years old)

Supreme Andalusian-Moroccan polymath and Grand Vizier of Granada who authored al-Ihata fi Akhbar Gharnata, formulated the contagion theory of the Black Death, and whose poetic epigrams adorn the Alhambra.

Fez, Morocco

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Literature & Poetry

43

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Shi Nai'an

施耐庵

China

c. 1296 – c. 1372 (76 years old)

Chinese writer traditionally credited with composing Water Margin (Outlaws of the Marsh), the celebrated epic novel of righteous banditry and martial brotherhood.

Xinghua, China

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Literature & Poetry

22

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Ibn Ajurrum

ابن آجروم

Morocco

1273 – 1323 (50 years old)

Sanhaja Berber grammarian and jurist of Fez whose concise grammatical manual, Al-Ajurrumiyya, became the most universally studied introduction to classical Arabic grammar for seven centuries.

Fez, Morocco

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Literature & Poetry

9

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Abu al-Abbas Ahmad al-Ghubrini

أبو العباس أحمد بن أحمد الغبريني

Algeria

1246 – 1314 (68 years old)

13th-century Chief Judge of Bejaïa and chronicler whose biographical encyclopedia 'Unwan al-Dirayah' documents the intellectual golden age of medieval Algeria.

Bejaïa, Algeria

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Literature & Poetry

17

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Ibn Adhari al-Marrakushi

ابن عذاري المراكشي

Morocco

c. 1260 – c. 1312 (52 years old)

Monumental 13th-century Moroccan historian whose magnum opus al-Bayan al-Mughrib provides the most detailed, irreplaceable chronicle of Islamic North Africa and Andalusia from the 7th to the 13th century.

Fez, Morocco

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Literature & Poetry

22

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Abu al-Hasan al-Shushtari

أبو الحسن الششتري

Spain

1212 – 1269 (57 years old)

Celebrated Sufi mystical poet whose vernacular zajal and muwashshah songs bridged classical Andalusian mysticism with North African and Middle Eastern spiritual song.

Damietta, Egypt

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Literature & Poetry

7

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Baha al-Din Zuhayr

بهاء الدين زهير

Saudi Arabia

1186 – 23 November 1258 (72 years old)

Celebrated 13th-century Ayyubid court poet and chancellor known for his effortless, delicate lyricism and witty epigrams.

Cairo, Egypt

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Literature & Poetry

6

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Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson

Iceland

1179-10-15 – 1241-09-23 (61 years old)

Colossal medieval Icelandic historian, lawspeaker, and skald whose Prose Edda preserved Norse mythology and Heimskringla chronicled the epic history of Norwegian kings.

Reykholt, Iceland

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Literature & Poetry

6

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Baha al-Din ibn Shaddad

بهاء الدين بن شداد

Iraq

5 March 1145 – 8 November 1234 (89 years old)

Distinguished jurist and close confidant of Saladin who authored the authoritative contemporary biography Al-Nawadir al-Sultaniyya.

Aleppo, Syria

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Literature & Poetry

40

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Walther von der Vogelweide

Walther von der Vogelweide

Austria

c. 1170 – c. 1230 (60 years old)

Supreme Middle High German lyric poet and Minnesänger who elevated courtly love songs (Under der linden) and political Spruchdichtung across the courts of Europe.

Würzburg, Germany

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Literature & Poetry

6

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Yaqut al-Hamawi

ياقوت الحموي

Turkey

1179 – 20 August 1229 (50 years old)

Byzantine-born Muslim scholar and traveler who compiled the monumental geographical encyclopedia Mu'jam al-Buldan in Aleppo.

Aleppo, Syria

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Literature & Poetry

38

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Wolfram von Eschenbach

Wolfram von Eschenbach

Germany

c. 1170 – c. 1220 (50 years old)

Greatest Middle High German epic poet and knight whose masterpiece Parzival redefined the Arthurian Grail quest as a spiritual journey of empathy and faith.

Wolframs-Eschenbach, Germany

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Literature & Poetry

33

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Chrétien de Troyes

Chrétien de Troyes

France

c. 1160 – c. 1191 (31 years old)

Great French medieval trouvère and poet who originated the Arthurian courtly romance, inventing the Holy Grail quest and the tragic romance of Lancelot and Guinevere.

Troyes, France

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