Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Zuhair Mahmoud Saeed Ali Mansour
al-Karmi (Abu Mahmoud; December 7, 1921 - November 29, 2009) was a Palestinian
scientist, researcher, writer and media person from the Palestinian city of
Tulkarm. Which was broadcast in the Arab world from 1962 to 1984, and he is the
founder of the Kuwaiti Scientific Museum, the founder of Al-Quds University,
and its first president.
His upbringing and education
Zuhair Mahmoud Saeed Ali Mansour
Al-Karmi, who is from the Palestinian city of Tulkarem, was born on December 7,
1921 in Damascus, when his father, the writer Mahmoud Al-Karmi, was working
there as director of Al-Malik Al-Zaher School.
Zuhair Al-Karmi received his
primary, preparatory, and secondary education in Palestinian schools, and in
1936 he joined the Arab College in Jerusalem, and obtained his high school
diploma in 1937.
He joined the American University in
Beirut, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in 1941. He was
initially enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine at the university, but the
assassination of his father, Mahmoud al-Karmi, in Beirut on December 24, 1939
prompted him to leave medicine and study sciences. So that he can finish his
university studies early to support his brothers.
In 1945 he went to Cairo to study
Arabic scientific terminology, then went to London, where he obtained a
master's degree in biology from the Imperial College in London in 1948.
his working life
at the beginning of his life; Zuhair
al-Karmi worked as a science teacher in the Fadhiliya School in his home city
of Tulkarm from 1941 until 1945, then he became head of the General
Examinations Department at the Ministry of Education in Jerusalem. After his
return in 1948 from London to Tulkarm, he participated in the establishment of
the Jihad Hospital in the city, accompanied by a group of women. He also worked
as an English teacher at the Khadoori Institute in the city.
In 1951, Maarif Al-Kuwait assigned
him to work for it as a teacher in its schools, and after that he became
inspector of sciences there in Kuwait, then chief of science inspectors in the
Kuwaiti Ministry of Education, where he supervised science curricula more than
once.
He resigned from his job in
education to assume the position of General Manager of Kuwait Oxygen Company
and Kuwait Industrial Gases Corporation. He contributed to radio and television
in Kuwait by presenting scientific programmes. He also founded the Kuwaiti
Science Museum on February 6, 1972, and was considered one of the UNESCO
experts for this museum.
his personal life
Zuhair Al-Karmi, who is from the
“Karmi” family known in the city of Tulkarm; His father is the writer Mahmoud
al-Karmi, and his uncles are: the poet Abd al-Karim al-Karmi (Abu Salma), the
politician Abd al-Ghani al-Karmi, the writer Ahmed Shaker al-Karmi, and the
linguist Hassan al-Karmi. And his grandfather is the scholar, Minister Saeed
Al-Karmi. As for his grandfather's father, Sheikh Ali bin Mansour Al-Karmi, the
jurist.
Zuhair Al-Karmi is married and has
four sons and three daughters. His four children are: Dr. Mahmoud Al-Karmi, Dr.
Moataz Al-Karmi, Dr. Fawaz Al-Karmi, and Dr. Ali Al-Karmi.
Founded by Al-Quds University
In 1957, Zuhair Al-Karmi founded the
Arab Institute in Abu Dis, near Jerusalem, with Kuwaiti funding. Its foundation
stones were laid by the Kuwaiti Emir Jaber Al-Sabah and the Jordanian King
Hussein bin Talal. After his return from Kuwait to Palestine, in 1979, Al-Karmi
established the “College of Science and Technology” next to the Arab Institute,
and he assumed the management of the college.
In 1984, Zuhair Al-Karmi founded
Al-Quds University; This is after he transformed the College of Science and
Technology into a university with the merging of additional colleges within it.
He assumed the presidency of the university and contributed to its development.
His most prominent works
He has important scientific
publications, most notably:
"Science of Life", three
parts.
«General Sciences», nine parts.
Kuwait and Water in the Twenty-First
Century.
«Kuwait and Industry in the
Twenty-First Century».
Scientific Atlas: The Plant World,
1977.
Features of the picture of the world
in the twenty-first century, 1977.
“Science and the Problems of Modern
Man,” The World of Knowledge series, 1978.
Scientific Atlas: The Animal World,
1983.
Scientific Atlas: Human Physiology.
«UNESCO reference in teaching
geography», 1985.
Scientific Atlas: Human Physiology,
Part Two, 1991.
Back to the beginning: a long story,
1993.
"Human Nature", The Arab
Institute for Studies and Publishing, Beirut, 1995.
Encyclopedia of Scientific Atlas,
1999.
See the translation of the book “The
Universe and Black Holes” by Raouf Wasfi, World of Knowledge series, 1979.
Refer to the translation of the book
“Human Ascension” by Jacob Bronowski, The World of Knowledge series, 1981.
Translated the book “The Sons of
Man” by Peter Farb, 1983.
Achievements and Awards
Honors and awards
On September 3, 1967, King Hussein
bin Talal Zuhair al-Karmi awarded the Jordanian Order of Independence, in
appreciation of his efforts.
On January 23, 2003, Zuhair Al-Karmi
won the "Philadelphia Award for Best Book of 2002", during a ceremony
organized specifically for that at the Royal Cultural Center in the Jordanian
capital, Amman, in the presence of a number of ministers and personalities.
His death and eulogy
Zuhair Al-Karmi died in the
Jordanian capital, Amman, on November 29, 2009, at the age of 87.
On December 7, 2009, the Kuwaiti
Ministry of Education adopted the late Zuhair Al-Karmi. On January 16, 2010,
the Jordanian Writers and Writers Union celebrated the late Zuhair Al-Karmi by
holding a memorial ceremony for him in the capital, Amman, on the 40th
anniversary of his passing.
Honor him
Al-Quds University named one of the
university's large halls after Zuhair Al-Karmi.
On July 24, 2011, the Palestinian
Ministry of Youth and Sports launched the “Zuhair Al-Karmi Prize for Scientific
Creativity” in honor of Zuhair Al-Karmi and his scientific contributions.
They said about him
The writer Suleiman Al-Azrai said:
“The late Zuhair Al-Karmi is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary
Arab thought and culture.
Writer Nayef Al-Nawaisa said: “We
cry for him whenever we feel the cultural emptiness around us, this
intellectual whose culture has transcended all borders and all sites to be an
Arab cultural wall that the foreigner loves before the Arab.”
Kuwaiti Minister of Education, Moudi
Al-Hamoud, said: “Many of his students still remember with appreciation and
pride his distinguished personality, gentleness, sincerity and dedication to
his work, as he was a wonderful and successful example of an educator with a
noble message.”
The writer, Maan al-Bayari, said:
“It is the image of the man on the TV screen in his presentation of a wonderful
program called “Science and Life”, which belongs to the time of joy on
television in our homes. He provided his viewers with extensive knowledge of
life in the secrets of the oceans and seas and their bottoms, of birds in the
spaces and skies of the world, of animals in forests, plains and deserts. It
was an interesting pleasure to listen to Zuhair Al-Karmi, as he explains all of
this and others in the tone of a companion and friend, and in his voice there
is calm and kindness, so we learn and rejoice, then we await his appearance
next week.. Zuhair Al-Karmi's program is respected in the memory of millions of
Arabs.
The head of the Jordanian Writers
and Writers Union, Sadiq Joudeh, said: “The late Zuhair al-Karmi was a scholar,
writer, philosopher, educator, and translator.”
The researcher, Muhammad Saeed
Hamdan, said: “The late Zuhair al-Karmi was an encyclopedic thinker and a
prominent scholar of Palestinian and Arab thought, and a pioneering
intellectual school.
The journalist, Abdullah Al-Qaq,
said: “The late great Zuhair Al-Karmi is one of the scholars and masters of
science and culture who left imprints on the huge efforts that resonate on the
tongues and tell models to be emulated, the capabilities of their peers, and
scientific riches.
The educator, Adnan Lutfi Othman,
said: “I got to know the late Abu Mahmoud in the mid-fifties, during his annual
vacation, which he used to spend in Tulkarem among his family and loved ones.
Al-Munir, who inspires thinking, has a distinguished personality, a keen mind,
and touches on the authentic Arab values.
The poet “Abdullah Abdel Razek,”saying:
Zuhair Sadaq, the scholar of information,
the dearest gentleman
A sign like it in the worlds has
been scarce
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