- Mohammed Ridha Al-Shabibi
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Mohammed Ridha Al-Shabibi
Sheikh Mohammed Ridha Al-Shabibi (Arabic: الشيخ محمد رضا الشبيبي) was an Iraqi national figure, statesman, poet and educator. A member of the prominent Al-Shabibi family of Najaf he studied religion and literature, and as a young man published poetry in major publications of the Arab World (Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt).
He lived from 1889 until 1965, and played a major role for Iraq to achieve independence after World War I. He was the emissary of petitions, letters and messages from Iraqi political and religious figures to Sharif Hussein bin Ali and Faisal I to explain the desire and importance of Iraqis to achieve freedom and independence in 1919.
This was a major step as he publicized formally outside Iraq the desire of Iraq's self determination and its opposition to British rule after World War I. This was the start of a process that actually led to Iraq's independence on the 3rd October 1932.
Mohammed Ridha Al-Shabibi also served in parliament from the 1920's through the 1940's and as minister of education in several cabinets (1924–1925, 1935, 1937–1938, 1941, 1948). He was elected president of the Iraqi Academy in 1928–1929 and in the 1930's became a member of the Arabic Language Academy in Cairo. He authored a number of books on Iraqi history, the Iraqi dialect, and education.
Family and Personal life
Mohammed Ridha Al-Shabibi married Shamsa Rahmatalla in 1926. They had 4 sons (As'ad, Akram, Amjad, and Sinan Al-Shabibi) and 6 daughters (Wajiha, Hadiya, Aida, Arwa, Asma, and Dunia Al-Shabibi). As'ad Al-Shabibi his elder son was abducted by the Iraqi Baathist regime for his political views on the morning of November 26th 1980. His youngest son, Sinan Al Shabibi has been the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq since 2003 immediately after the fall of the regime.
References
- Historical dictionary of Iraq - By Edmund Ghareeb, Beth Dougherty
- The formation of modern Syria and Iraq - By Eliʻezer Ṭaʼuber
- Independent Iraq: the monarchy and British influence, 1941-58 - By Matthew Elliot
- Trends and movements in modern Arabic poetry, Volume 1- By Salma Khadra Jayyusi
- Al-Shabibi fi shababihi al-siyasi (Al-Shabibi during his political youth) - By Ali Abd Shanawah
External links
Categories:- 1889 births
- 1965 deaths
- Iraqi poets
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