Constantin Zureiq

Constantin Zureik or Zureiq (Arabic قسطنطين زريق Qustantin Zuraiq; born April 18, 1909 in Damascus, Syria Vilayet, Ottoman Empire; † August 11, 2000 in Beirut, Lebanon ) was a famous and influential Syrian- Arab intellectuals, of the to pioneers of Arab nationalism mattered. Along with Georges Habache Zureik founded in the 1950s, the Arab Nationalist Movement.

Life and academic career

Constantin Zureik was born in 1909 in a Greek Orthodox Christian family. He received his primary and secondary education in the Orthodox school systems and was regarded as inquisitive and intelligent. He continued his education at the American University of Beirut ( université de Beyrouth américaine ) continued, and in 1930 received his PhD from Princeton University. Immediately afterwards, he began to teach and became a professor of history at the American University of Beirut.

In August 1933, he founded with Faride Zeineddine, Darwish Miqdadi and about 50 other in Quara'il in the Lebanese mountains, the League of National Action, which fought against French colonial influence. The political establishment in Syria was at that time dominated by landowners and in the Ottoman Empire educated politicians. The League of National Action was led by professors, lawyers and officials who did not live on the estates of their parents, but tried to develop independent careers. Its members had studied in Europe and all the American universities in the Middle East. Zureik engaged in this league, which also included Sabri al - Asali, Zaki al - Arsuzi and Munir al - Adschlani. She received in 1933 a certain popularity, but which ended with the death of the charismatic leader Abdul Razzaq al - Dandaschi ( 1899-1935 ).

After he received his PhD, focused Zureik its goals within the teaching and politics. Along with his work in the Chair had Zureik 1945 at the same time as the first adviser of the Syrian embassy in the United States, and was a delegate to the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly in 1946.

After his diplomatic service Zureik 1949 was appointed President of the University of Damascus. Later, in 1952, Zureik accepted the offer to become Vice President of the American University of Beirut from 1954 to 1958, he was temporarily run president. He completed his education by 1967, he received his doctorate in literature at the University of Michigan.

Developers of Arab nationalism

Constantin Zureik expressed as one of the first the necessity of Arab unity and stressed the urgent need to change the stagnant Arab society through rational thinking and radically adapt thinking and acting methods. Zureik developed different ideas about how the "Arab mission" and "national Philosophy ", which became key concepts of the Arab nationalist thinkers. In the last years of his life he was a strong proponent of an intellectual reform of Arab society, and emphasized the importance of rationalism and an ethical revolution.

Major works

• On National Awakening ( 1939)
• What is to be done? An address to the rising Arab generations (1939 )
• The Arab Consciousness (1939 )
• The Meaning of Disaster ( 1948)
• Facing History (1959 )
• We and History ( 1959)
• In The Battle For Culture (1964 )
• Facing The Future ( 1977)
• What to Do? (1998)