Salma Kuzbari

Salma Kuzbari was a Syrian writer and translator who was born into a prominent family in Damascus in 1923. Her father, Lutfi al-Haffar, was a prime minister of Syria and a supporter of her professional pursuits. She studied Arabic, English, and French at a private Franciscan school and political science by correspondence with a Jesuit university in Beirut. She published her first work in 1940 in Al Ahad magazine and her first book, the autobiographical Hala's Diaries, in 1950. She produced a series of short story collections and poetry collections in Arabic and French, as well as novels and biographies. She is best known for her literary criticism and biography on the women's rights activist and writer May Ziadeh, whom she dedicated 17 years of her career to researching. She also wrote extensively on Spain's Andalusia region, inspired by her experience working at the Syrian Embassy in Madrid. She received several awards for her work, including a medal from the Spanish government, the University of Palermo's Mediterranean Literature Award, and the King Faisal Prize for Arabic Language and Literature. She was also an active defender of women's rights and equality and founded a charity organization for abandoned children. She died in Beirut in 2006 at the age of 83.