Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Kamal Abdel Fattah, whose full name is Kamal Jabr Hassan Abdel Fattah Jabarin , (Abu Qais; February 9 , 1943 – January 27, 2023 ) was a Palestinian geographer , historian , and writer , known as the “Sheikh of Palestinian Geographers.”
His biography
Kamal Jabr Hassan Abdel Fattah Jabarin was born on February 9, 1943 in Umm al-Fahm in Mandatory Palestine . After the Nakba of 1948 , he took refuge with his family in the village of Silat al-Harithiya in the Jenin district , where he received his primary education in the village schools. After completing high school, he joined the University of Damascus in the Department of Geography at the Faculty of Arts there.
He worked as a professor of geography at Birzeit University from mid- September 1978 , then in 1980 he became the second dean of the Faculty of Arts at the university, and worked to establish two departments at the university, one for history and the other for geography. He was also the head of both the Department of Middle Eastern Studies and the Department of Geography at the university, and worked as a visiting professor at several universities in the United States of America and Germany .
In 1979, he launched and led the first geographical exploration trips that toured Palestine, starting from Birzeit to the Jordan Valley , Hula , Safed , Acre, Haifa , Tulkarm , Gaza , and the Negev . Since the spring of 1987, he has also led a team to excavate the remains of destroyed Palestinian villages located in northern and central Palestine.
His writings
He has a number of publications and books, including:
"Historical geographic systems."
“The historical geography of Palestine, East Jordan , southern Syria and Lebanon in the sixteenth century AD.”
“Palestinian Economic Development in the Late Ottoman Period.”
“Mountain farmers and peasants in Asir .”
His death
He died on Friday, January 27, 2023 , in Jenin , at the age of about 80.
What they said about him
The Palestinian chemist Abdul Latif Abu Hijleh says about Kamal Abdel Fattah: “He worked for a long time to bring the world to his students within the walls, and led them from their passion outside it to explore the terrain and interact with the land, air and nature, and roam in it, to establish a good tradition called - education through trips -.”
Achievements and Awards
Awards and Honors
He received several awards and honors, including:
Abdul Hameed Shoman Award for Young Arabs in Social Sciences , 1983.
State of Palestine Prize in Social Sciences , 1997.
Honored by Birzeit University , in an official ceremony on February 9, 2019 , “in appreciation of his distinguished contributions to the fields of education, culture and academia in Palestine , and his pioneering geographical and historical research,” where he was honored by the university president, Abdul Latif Abu Hijleh, and the chairman of the university’s board of trustees, Hanna Nasir .
Source
- Years in active
: From
To