Wasfi Sadiq Al-Anabtawi , born in 1903 in Nablus , Palestine - died in 1984 in Lebanon , is a Palestinian educator , geographer , writer , and Minister of Finance in the 1970 government in Jordan .
His education
He studied primary and middle school in the city of Nablus, then moved to Jerusalem, and completed his secondary studies at the “English College” and obtained his degree in the summer of 1923. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in social sciences and education in 1926 from the American University of Beirut, and then in 1927 he was elected as a scholarship student at the expense of the Palestinian government to the University of Palestine. Cambridge, England. After living there for three years, he returned to Palestine in 1930 holding a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in history and geography. He also obtained a professor of science degree from the University of Cambridge in 1934.
His professional life
- In the summer of 1923, the Palestine Education Administration appointed him as a professor of English at the Saliya Secondary School in Nablus.
- In 1926, he was appointed as a teacher of history, English literature, and principles of education at the Arab College in Jerusalem.
- In 1930, he was appointed professor of history and geography at the Arab College and the Rashidiya College in Jerusalem until 1940.
- He was entrusted with inspecting the subjects of history and geography in all the princely schools of Palestine, and he continued to carry out this work until the end of the British Mandate over Palestine in 1948.
- In addition to his teaching at the Arab College and the Rashidiya College, he was chosen as a member of the Palestinian Higher Education Council, and headed the Palestinian delegation that participated in the first Arab Cultural Conference called for by the Cultural Committee of the League of Arab States, held in Beit Mery in Lebanon in 1946.
- After the first Palestinian Nakba, the Syrian Ministry of Education appointed him as a specialist inspector for social studies and the English language. He remained in this job for four years (1948-1952) and also lectured at the Faculty of Arts at the Syrian University in Damascus.
- In 1952, he joined the Arab Bank family in Amman, where he held a senior position.
- In 1956, he visited the United States and lectured at many clubs on Middle Eastern affairs.
- In early 1964, he was retired from the Arab Bank and appointed as a professor of geography at the University of Jordan.
- In the spring of 1970, he worked for the Finance Ministry in Jordan, and in the winter of 1971 he fled to Beirut and settled there. [1]
Among his pen works
Professor Wasfi contributed to the classification and translation of a range of textbooks in geography and history. He also supervised in 1946 the preparation of a geographical atlas called “The World Atlas” commissioned by the Department of Knowledge in Palestine. These are some of the names of the books he contributed to developing and translating in partnership with his brothers from Lebanon, Iraq and Palestine. Such as Khalil Al-Sakakini , Abdullah Mashnouk, George Shahla, Saeed Al-Sabbagh, Ahmed Khalifa, Rafiq Al-Tamimi, and Saeed Al-Durra:
- Geography of the New World.
- Geography of the ancient world.
- Modern Illustrated Geography (3 parts).
- Economic geography.
- Landmarks of ancient history.
- Geography of the Near East.
- Overall history of the Middle and Modern Ages.
- Illustrated geographical readings (3 parts).
- Illustrated historical reading.
- Geography of Palestine and the Arab countries.
- The Mediterranean Basin and Western Europe.
- Geography of the Arab countries.
- Preparatory geography.
- Secondary Geography (two parts).
- The five continents.
- the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
- The Arab world and the world.
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