Background
Daif was born in the village of Um Hamam in northern Egypt in 1910.
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Shawqi Daif
Edit ProfileEducation
He earned his Bachelor and Doctor of Philosophy from Fuad al-Awal University, which would later be known as Cairo University.
Career
He is considered one of the most influential Arab intellectuals in the 20th century. He was later a professor of Arabic literature at his alma mater for several decades. Daif earned himself a number of both admirers and critics during his career.
Levantine writer and diplomat Shakib Arslan considered himself a defender of Daif against traditionalist criticisms, referring to himself as "the executioner of Shawqi"s enemies.".
Achievements
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Daif was widely respected throughout the Arab world, having earned the King Faisal International Prize for literature in 1983 as well as the Egyptian Presidential Prize for Literature in 2003. During his career, he was also awarded two state prizes in Egypt and the Academy of the Arabic Language Prize.
Membership
He was a member of the Egyptian Academy of Sciences and was president of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo for a few years.
