(1878 – 1948 AD = 1295 – 1368 AH)
Edward ibn Nicola Elias Murqus was a writer, poet, journalist and translator. He was a member of the Arab League in Damascus, where he was born and educated before leaving public school in favor of homeschooling. Before he became a journalist, he spent a lengthy stint as an educator, and as a reporter, he edited and published articles in various newspaper and magazines in Syria, Egypt and Lebanon. In 1910, he founded “Al-Muntakhab” (The Elected), a weekly newspaper in Lattakia prior to WWI. Nine years later, in 1919, he founded weekly magazine “Al-Nahda Al-Jadida” (The New Uprising). He published much of his research in the “Academy of Sciences” and was an editor for the newspapers “Al-Mokattam” and “Al-Mahroosa.” Among his remnants are “Arabic Literature: What It Offers and What It Should Offer,” “Localization from French,” “Diwan Edward Murqus” (a collection of his poetry and writings), “History of the Great War” (translated from French), “In Favor of the Arabic Language” and other novels and three schoolbooks.