WRITER

Rifa'a al-Tahtawi

1801 - 1873

Photo of Rifa'a al-Tahtawi

Icon of person Rifa'a al-Tahtawi

Rifa'a Rafi' at-Tahtawi (Arabic: رفاعة رافع الطهطاوي, romanized: Rifāʿa Rāfiʿ aṭ-Ṭahṭāwī; 1801–1873) was an Egyptian writer, teacher, translator, Egyptologist, and intellectual of the Nahda (the Arab renaissance). One of the first Egyptian travellers to France in the nineteenth century, Tahtawi published in 1834 a detailed account of his 5-year-long stay in France, Takhlis al-ibriz fi talkhis Bariz  ('The Extrication of Gold in Summarizing Paris'), and from then on became one of the first Egyptian scholars to write about Western culture in an attempt to bring about a reconciliation and an understanding between Islamic and Christian civilizations. In 1835 he founded a School of Languages in Cairo, and he was influential in the development of science, law, literature, and Egyptology in 19th-century Egypt. His works influenced those of many later scholars such as Muhammad Abduh. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Rifa'a al-Tahtawi is the 1,823rd most popular writer (down from 1,732nd in 2019), the 298th most popular biography from Egypt (down from 287th in 2019) and the 19th most popular Egyptian Writer.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of Rifa'a al-Tahtawi by language

Loading...

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Rifa'a al-Tahtawi ranks 1,823 out of 7,302Before him are Álvaro Mutis, Petros Markaris, Alexander Grin, Ruan Ji, Oliver Goldsmith, and Peter Shaffer. After him are Elizabeth Bishop, Abbot Oliba, Anthony Trollope, Valery Bryusov, Philip José Farmer, and Al-Hariri of Basra.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1801, Rifa'a al-Tahtawi ranks 29Before him are Albert Lortzing, Infanta Isabel Maria of Braganza, William H. Seward, Thomas Cole, Moritz von Jacobi, and David Farragut. After him are Julius Plücker, Jean-Baptiste Boussingault, Justo José de Urquiza, Fredrika Bremer, Karl Baedeker, and Johann Nestroy. Among people deceased in 1873, Rifa'a al-Tahtawi ranks 23Before him are Émile Gaboriau, Jean Chacornac, Adam Sedgwick, Pauline Therese of Württemberg, Sheridan Le Fanu, and José Antonio Páez. After him are Sarah Moore Grimké, Viktor Hartmann, Muhammad IV of Morocco, Friedrich Wieck, Princess Charlotte of Württemberg, and Giovanni Battista Donati.

Others Born in 1801

Go to all Rankings

Others Deceased in 1873

Go to all Rankings

In Egypt

Among people born in Egypt, Rifa'a al-Tahtawi ranks 298 out of 642Before him are Setepenre (-1400), Amr Diab (1961), Al-Mu'azzam Isa (1176), Khamudi (-1549), Hesychius of Alexandria (500), and Arnuwanda II (-1400). After him are Carpocrates (100), Takelot I (-1000), Neferkare II (-2150), Ali ibn Ridwan (988), Omar Suleiman (1936), and Jawhar (911).

Among WRITERS In Egypt

Among writers born in Egypt, Rifa'a al-Tahtawi ranks 19Before him are Taha Hussein (1889), Achilles Tatius (200), Giuseppe Ungaretti (1888), Ahmed Shawqi (1868), Didymus Chalcenterus (-63), and Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy (1928). After him are Herodas (-300), Eutychius of Alexandria (877), Anastasius Sinaita (630), Ibn al-Farid (1181), Ibn Taghribirdi (1410), and Edmond Jabès (1912).