Background
Ghadah Al-Samman was born in 1942, in Damascus, Syria. Her father was a president of the Syrian University and was engaged in the daughter's education alone because her mother died when Ghadah was very young.
G76R+G8 Damascus, Syria
Ghada Al-Samman studied at Damascus University, where she learned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature in 1963.
WF2J+87 Beirut, Lebanon
Ghada Al-Samman studied at the American University of Beirut, where she earned a Master's Degree in Theatre in 1965.
G764+47 Damascus, Syria
The French School in Damascus was the first Ghada Al-Samman's educational institution.
Damascus, Syria
Al Tajheez Al-Ilmi Private School, where Ghada Al-Samman obtained her high school diploma - scientific branch.
(Set in Geneva, Switzerland, around the 1982 Israeli invas...)
Set in Geneva, Switzerland, around the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, this intricately plotted novel probes the emotional misfortunes of Arab men and women fleeing the horror of war only to find their ways of life constantly challenged by their foreign surroundings.
https://www.amazon.com/Night-Billion-Middle-Literature-Translation/dp/0815608292/?tag=2022091-20
2005
(Arab Women in Love and War: Fleeting Eternities offers th...)
Arab Women in Love and War: Fleeting Eternities offers the first translation of Ghada Samman's poetry from Arabic to English. Samman, one of the most prominent and prolific feminist Syrian-Lebanese writers, addresses themes relating to women and to the Lebanese civil war (1975- 1990).
https://www.amazon.com/Arab-Women-Love-War-Eternities/dp/1439218455/?tag=2022091-20
2009
(Beirut Nightmares is set at the height of the Lebanese Ci...)
Beirut Nightmares is set at the height of the Lebanese Civil War. The narrator, trapped in her apartment for two weeks by street battles and sniper fire, writes a series of vignettes peopled by an extraordinary cast of characters, some drawn from shocking waking world and others living only in the sleeping minds, of those suffering in the conflict. Named in the top-ten of The best 100 Arabic Books by the Arab Writers Union in 2010.
https://www.amazon.com/Beirut-Nightmares-Ghada-Samman/dp/070438065X/?tag=2022091-20
2010
(Farewell Damascus, set in the city during the early 1960s...)
Farewell Damascus, set in the city during the early 1960s, is both a paean to a beloved homeland and an ode to human dignity. Armed with her customary humor, pathos, and knack for suspense, Ghada Samman fearlessly tackles issues that roil societies across the globe to this day. Farewell Damascus, set in the city during the early 1960s, is both a paean to a beloved homeland and an ode to human dignity. Armed with her customary humor, pathos, and knack for suspense, Ghada Samman fearlessly tackles issues that roil societies across the globe to this day.
https://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Damascus-Ghada-Samman/dp/1850772959/?tag=2022091-20
2018
غادة السمّان
Ghadah Al-Samman was born in 1942, in Damascus, Syria. Her father was a president of the Syrian University and was engaged in the daughter's education alone because her mother died when Ghadah was very young.
In 1963 Ghada Al-Samman earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at the Syrian University. Her next educational institution was the American University of Beirut, where she earned a Master's Degree in Theatre.
Ghada Al-Samman worked in a library and as an English teacher in one of the secondary schools in Damascus while she was still studying at college. She was also employed as a lecturer in Damascus University and as a journalist and as a program coordinator at Damascus Radio Station.
Al-Samman started her writing career in 1960. She published her first story in the Syrian newspaper Al-Akhbar. Then she started publishing her stories in Arabic newspapers, particularly in the Lebanese magazine Al-Osboo’ Al-Arabi, until she became the most renowned name in the Arab world. Later she collected her press articles in a series she called The Incomplete Works. It was published in fifteen books. She also has nine books of poetic texts.
Ghada Al-Samman's first book of short stories, named “Your Eyes are my Destiny” was published in 1962 and received good reviews. Her second book was called “No Sea in Beirut” and published in 1965. After her travel around Europe, Ghada al-Sammanpublished her third collection of short stories “Foreigners’ Nights” in 1965. Her fourth book “The Departure of Old Ports” was finished in 1973. Most critics consider this book to be one of the important El-Samman's works. These books reflect the events and experiences of her life.
Ghada's first novel, “Beirut 75” was published around the end of 1974. This novel described the most urgent and complex problems of Beirut's society. Ghada El-Samman published two more novels in 1977 and 1986. The first one was called “Beirut Nightmares" and described life in Beirut, torn by the civil war. The second “The Eve of Billion” about the horrors of war. These novels made her the most prominent modern Arab writer, as some critics say.
Ghada Al-Samman settled in Paris in 1984. She started writing the last page on a weekly basis for Al-Hawadeth magazine. After her husband died in 2007 and Al-Hawadeth magazine was discontinued, she has lived in seclusion in Paris and stopped publishing.
(Set in Geneva, Switzerland, around the 1982 Israeli invas...)
2005(Arab Women in Love and War: Fleeting Eternities offers th...)
2009(Farewell Damascus, set in the city during the early 1960s...)
2018(Beirut Nightmares is set at the height of the Lebanese Ci...)
2010Ghada El-Samman is a freedom-loving and independent woman. She always has her own viewpoint and doesn't afraid of the blame of conservative Arab society. Since she moved to Europe, Ghada understood all the benefits of women's rights and freedoms in European society. In her texts, she expressed ideas of freedom and gender equality.
Quotations:
“I’m a woman without masks. Freedom is the key to my life."
“Love is always fascinating. The best thing in a man is his flings because they prove he’s still alive.”
“My father protected my wings and I built my future using stones of the past.”
"My homeland is not where my airplane lands. It’s the cloud that my heart inhabits.”
“Literature is not prattle. It’s a written word that may stay or may get lost on road sand.”
Ghada Al-Samman was described as one of the bravest Syrian women. With the help of her works, she gained respect for herself, not only as an author but also as a woman.
Ghada Al-Samman got married to Doctor Bashir Al-Da’ook, the owner of Dar Al-Taleea for Printing and Publishing, in 1970. They have one son, Hazem.