Butrus al-Bustani

Butrus al - Bustani (Arabic بطرس البستاني, DMG Butrus al - Bustani, * January 1819 in the village of Dibbiyeh in Beirut; † May 1, 1883 ) was a Lebanese writer, lecturer, editor and philologist.

He came from a Maronite family in the village of ad - Dibbiya at al - Kharrub (Lebanon). He first visited the cleric school in Ain Warqa, but resigned at the age of 20 years on the Presbyterianism of his American mentors and introduced himself as a language teacher in the service of the American mission. Eli Smith ( missionary ) and Cornelius Van Dyck had in him a helper in Arabic translation and edition of their Bible. Al- Bustani founded in 1863 a higher boys' school Madrasa Wataniyya ( National School ) and was from 1870 to several newspapers out. He is known for publishing the first modern Arabic-language encyclopedia in seven volumes, as well as an author of an Arabic dictionary. He was the author of many literary works, notably the prose.

Although he had been trained by Western scholars and Western technology welcomed, he was a strong Arab nationalist.