Aziz Suryal Atiya
Encyclopedia
Professor Aziz Suryal Atiya was a prominent Coptologist who was a Copt
ic historian and scholar and an expert in Islamic and Crusades
studies.
Professor Atiya was the founder of the Institute of Coptic Studies
in Cairo in 1950s, and was also the founder of the Middle East Center
, University of Utah
.
His library, The Aziz Atiya Library for Middle East Studies at University of Utah
, is considered the fifth largest such collection in North America
and is recognized internationally as a major research library in this field.
He was married, and father of two children.
published in 1991.
The chapters on the Copts in his book The History of Eastern Christianity (1968, 1980) have become landmarks, not only for specialists but also for the general public.
It was Atiya who, after many lively debates with the publishers and their readers, had the words 'Coptology
' and 'Coptologist' introduced into the English language." (John H. Watson, Among the Copts)
He could speak English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Latin, and to a lesser extent, Spanish, Greek, Coptic, Turkish, Welsh, and Dutch.
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
ic historian and scholar and an expert in Islamic and Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
studies.
Professor Atiya was the founder of the Institute of Coptic Studies
Institute of Coptic Studies
The Institute of Coptic Studies was founded in 1954 by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It is based in Cairo....
in Cairo in 1950s, and was also the founder of the Middle East Center
University of Utah Middle East Center
The University of Utah Middle East Center is located on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. The center was officially established in 1960 and offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. The Center was established under the influence of scholar Dr. Aziz Atiya...
, University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
.
His library, The Aziz Atiya Library for Middle East Studies at University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
, is considered the fifth largest such collection in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and is recognized internationally as a major research library in this field.
He was married, and father of two children.
Work
Professor Atiya published a large study The Crusades in the Later Middle Ages in 1938, and was also the first author of The Coptic EncyclopediaThe Coptic Encyclopedia
The Coptic Encyclopedia is an eight-volume work covering the history, theology, language, art, architecture, archeology and hagiography of Coptic Egypt. The encyclopedia was written by over 250 Western and Egyptian contributing experts in the field of Coptology, history, art and theology and was...
published in 1991.
The chapters on the Copts in his book The History of Eastern Christianity (1968, 1980) have become landmarks, not only for specialists but also for the general public.
It was Atiya who, after many lively debates with the publishers and their readers, had the words 'Coptology
Coptology
Coptology is most commonly defined as the science of Coptic studies, the study of Coptic language and literature.-Origin:The European interest in Coptology may have started as early as the 15th century AD. The term was used in 1976 when the First International Congress of Coptology was held in...
' and 'Coptologist' introduced into the English language." (John H. Watson, Among the Copts)
He could speak English, Arabic, French, German, Italian, Latin, and to a lesser extent, Spanish, Greek, Coptic, Turkish, Welsh, and Dutch.
Academic career
- Honorary Professor of Medieval (including Oriental) History for Kahle's Orientalisches Seminar in Bonn, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
1935-1939 - Professor of Medieval History at Cairo UniversityCairo UniversityCairo University is a public university located in Giza, Egypt.The university was founded on December 21, 1908, as the result of an effort to establish a national center for educational thought...
1939-1942. - Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Arts (1949–1950) and Chairman of the History Department at Alexandria UniversityAlexandria UniversityAlexandria University is a university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fuad University , becoming an independent entity in 1942. It was known as Farouk University until the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 when its name was changed to the University of Alexandria...
1952-1954. - Medieval Academy Visiting Professor of Arabic Studies at University of MichiganUniversity of MichiganThe University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. - Positions at the Union Theological SeminaryUnion Theological Seminary in the City of New YorkUnion Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a preeminent independent graduate school of theology, located in Manhattan between Claremont Avenue and Broadway, 120th to 122nd Streets. The seminary was founded in 1836 under the Presbyterian Church, and is affiliated with nearby Columbia...
and Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. - Patten Visiting Professor and Lecturer at Indiana UniversityIndiana UniversityIndiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
1957 - Professor of Arabic and Islamic History at Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(1957–1958). - Professor of Languages and History at University of UtahUniversity of UtahThe University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
1959.
Awards
- Earned a B.A. with first-class honors in Medieval and Modern History University of LiverpoolUniversity of LiverpoolThe University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
in EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
1931. - Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic StudiesIslamic studiesIn a Muslim context, Islamic studies can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge...
University of LondonUniversity of London-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
1933. - Awarded a D.Litt.(Doctor of LettersDoctor of LettersDoctor of Letters is a university academic degree, often a higher doctorate which is frequently awarded as an honorary degree in recognition of outstanding scholarship or other merits.-Commonwealth:...
) University of LiverpoolUniversity of LiverpoolThe University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 , it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic...
1938. - Granted the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane LettersDoctor of Humane LettersThe degree of Doctor of Humane Letters is always conferred as an honorary degree, usually to those who have distinguished themselves in areas other than science, government, literature or religion, which are awarded degrees of Doctor of Science, Doctor of Laws, Doctor of Letters, or Doctor of...
and honorary Doctor of Laws (LL.D.), Brigham Young UniversityBrigham Young UniversityBrigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
USA 1967.
Publications
- The Arabic Manuscripts of Mount Sinai: A Hand-list of the Arabic Manuscripts and Scrolls Microfilmed at the Library of the Monastery of St. Catherine (1955). ASIN B0006AU4NM.
- The Coptic Encyclopedia, vol. 1 (1991). ASIN B000VO57ZI.
- The Copts and Christian Civilization (1979). ISBN 978-0-87480-145-3.
- Crusade, Commerce and Culture (1962). ISBN ASIN B0000CLOTM.
- The Crusade (1977). ISBN 978-0-8371-8364-0.
- The Crusade Historigraphy and Bibliography (1962). ASIN B0000CLOU1.
- The Crusade in the Later Middle Ages, 2nd. ed. (1970). ASIN B0006D07U4.
- The Crusade of Nicopolis (1934). ASIN B0008620YK.
- Crusades (1962). ISBN ISBN 978-0-19-690008-7.
- Egypt and Aragon: Embassies and Diplomatic Correspondence Between 1300 and 1330 A.D. (1966). ASIN B0007J1LYI.
- A Fourteenth Century Encyclopedist from Alexandria (1977). ASIN B0006XYA4I.
- A History of Eastern Christianity (1980). ISBN 978-0-527-03703-1. This is an expanded edition of the first edition published in 1968. ASIN B000IOZ7AG.
- The Monastery of St Catherine and the Mount Sinai Expedition (1952). ASIN B0007EBOK4.
- Atiya published approximately twenty books, many of which are multi-volume projects also journal articles, book chapters, and encyclopedia articles .
See also
- Coptic historyCoptic historyCoptic history is part of history of Egypt that begins with the introduction of Christianity in Egypt in the 1st century AD during the Roman period, and covers the history of the Copts to the present day...
- Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
- List of Copts
- Lists of Egyptians
- Institute of Coptic StudiesInstitute of Coptic StudiesThe Institute of Coptic Studies was founded in 1954 by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It is based in Cairo....
- CoptologyCoptologyCoptology is most commonly defined as the science of Coptic studies, the study of Coptic language and literature.-Origin:The European interest in Coptology may have started as early as the 15th century AD. The term was used in 1976 when the First International Congress of Coptology was held in...
External links
- Aziz S. Atiya Biography
- Atiya, Aziz S. The Coptic EncyclopediaThe Coptic EncyclopediaThe Coptic Encyclopedia is an eight-volume work covering the history, theology, language, art, architecture, archeology and hagiography of Coptic Egypt. The encyclopedia was written by over 250 Western and Egyptian contributing experts in the field of Coptology, history, art and theology and was...
. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1991. ISBN 0-02-897025-X. - Books titles by Aziz Suryal Atiya
- عزيز سوريال عطية