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Cultural Personality of the Year 2009

Professor Pedro Martinez Montavez

Spain

The Prize is a tribute to his leading role in building bridges between Arab and Spanish cultures and his continuing efforts in opening dialogue amid both cultures.


Professor Pedro Martinez Montavez is one of the most prestigious modern Spanish Arabists of our time. He was born in Spain in 1933. He started in academia as a university professor in Seville and Autonomous Madrid Universities, supervising lot of works and research exercises in his field, and is currently a professor in Semitic philology at the University of Madrid. Throughout his career, Professor Montavez headed several societies and centers including the Spanish Society for Arabic Studies, the Cultural Hispanic Center and the Spanish section in the Faculty of Languages in Ayn Shams/ Cairo. He holds three Honorary PhDs and has been awarded and honored for his achievements and works from numerous prestigious entities.

About the Cultural Personality of the Year

Professor Montavez is known as a scholar, translator and author. His portfolio includes more than 20 books in the field of Arabic Literature, the History of Andalusia and Arabic Language and Translation. He translated the works of many legendary Arabic poets including Nizar Qabbani, Mahmoud Darwish, Adonis and Kahlil Gibran and worked on many research papers discussing the status of modern Arabia.