Zaki al-Arsuzi

Zaki al-Arsuzi was born in Latakia, Syria, in June 1899. He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he became interested in nationalism and philosophy. He returned to Syria in 1930 and joined the League of National Action, a nationalist party that opposed the French mandate. He left the party in 1939 and founded the Arab National Party, which advocated for Arab unity and independence. He also established a group of young intellectuals who discussed European history, nationalism and philosophy. In 1943, he published his most famous book, The Genius of Arabic in its Tongue, which argued that Arabic language was the essence of Arab identity and culture. He later merged his party with the Arab Ba'ath Movement, led by Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar, forming the Arab Ba'ath Party in 1947. However, he was not given a prominent role in the party and remained a marginal figure until the 1960s, when he was recognized as the main ideologue of the Syrian-led faction of the Ba'ath Party, which opposed Aflaq and al-Bitar's leadership. He died of a heart attack in Damascus on 2 July 1968. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its political movement, which ruled Syria and Iraq for decades. He is considered one of the most influential Arab philosophers and nationalists of the 20th century.