Samir Khalil Samir

Samir Khalil Samir (* 1938 in Cairo) is an Islamic scholar, Semitologist, Orientalist and a Catholic Theologian, based in Lebanon.

Life

Samir joined the Jesuit order in 1955 in Aix-en-Provence and undertook the study of Philosophy, Theology and Islamic studies. He graduated with a thesis on oriental Catholic theology and Islamic studies. He has lived in Birmingham and in the Netherlands. Thereafter he established 20 schools for reading and writing in Egypt und then taught for 12 years at the Papal Oriential Institute in Rome. In 1986 he moved to Lebanon during the civil war there and now teaches at the Saint Joseph University, specialising in Catholic theology and Islamic studies.

At the same time he created the research institute CEDRAC in Beirut, which collects literature on the Christian heritage in the Near East. He is also a Professor at the Papal Oriental Institute, Rome, the Centre Sèvres de Théologie (Institut Catholique), in Paris. He holds the same post at the Maqasid Institute in Beirut, where uniquely he teaches the Imams about Christianity and at ISSR in USJ teaches Moslem studies. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Graz, Tokyo, Al-Azhar University, and Georgetown University, at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Washington, D. C..

Samir is the author of 40 books and over 500 articles. He advises numerous church leaders and politicians in Europe and the Near East. He also held discussions on daily life with Moslem youths in the Paris Banlieue prior to the unrest in 2005.

His main interests are: the Christian Orient, Islam and the integration of Moslems in Europe, as well as relations between Christians and Moslems. In July 2006 he drew up a peace plan for the Near East.

Works

* "Christian Arabic Apologetics during the Abbasid Period (750-1258)" by Samir Khalil (ed.), Jorgen S Nilesen (Herausgeber) Brill (Dezember 1993)
* "Cento domande sull´islam. Intervista a Samir Khalil Samir, a cura di Giorgio Paolucci e Camille Eid" (Genova : Marietti, 2002), 14+223 pages = ISBN 88-211-6462-4 (13 ).
* "Rôle culturel des chrétiens dans le monde arabe", coll. Cahiers de l´Orient chrétien 1 (Beyrouth : CEDRAC, 2003), Samir Khalil Samir, 60 pages = ISSN 2-1682-6574 (4 ).
* "Cien preguntas sobre el islam, Una entrevista a Samir Khalil Samir, realizada por Giorgio Paolucci y Camille Eid" (Traduccion espanola: Miguel Montes), Madrid : Ediciones Encuentro, 2003, 223 pages = ISBN 84-7490-689-X.

He also made many contributions to the Coptic Encyclopedia.

Secondary literature

* "Studies on the Christian Arabic Heritage: In Honour of Father Prof Dr Samir Khalil Samir SJ at the Occasion of His Sixty-Fifth Birthday (Eastern Christian Studies)" by R. Y. Ebied (ed.), Peeters (2005)
* "Der Friedensplan für den Nahen Osten von Samir Khalil Samir": L'hebdomadaire italien « L'Espresso », 28. July 2006
* "Le plan de paix en dix points du Vatican", Hervé Yannou « Le Figaro », 30. August 2006.

Awards

* Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis, 2005
* Vétéran de la Culture au Liban et dans le Monde Arabe, 2007

Links

* [http://www.dacb.org/stories/egypt/abu_yu'annis.html Article by Fr. Samir on Abu Yu'annis]
* [http://www.cedrac.usj.edu.lb CEDRAC official site]
* [http://www.cedrac.usj.edu.lb/pres/bibliosks.htm Bibliography]
* http://www.grac.it/Samir.htm
* [http://www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=53826&eng=y On Pope Benedict and Islam]
* [http://www.mcaleb.org/French/cdpsfll.htm Award: Vétéran de la Culture au Liban et dans le Monde Arabe]