Khalil Gibran

Who is Khalil Gibran?

Khalil Gibran was a Lebanese-American writer, poet, and visual artist born in the mountain town of Bsharri in what was then Ottoman-ruled Mount Lebanon. At the age of twelve he emigrated with his family to Boston, Massachusetts, where he later studied art and began his literary career writing in both Arabic and English. He became a central figure of the Mahjar (émigré) literary movement, a circle of Arab writers in the Americas who modernized Arabic prose and poetry, and he co-founded the Pen League (Al-Rabita al-Qalamiyya) in New York with fellow Lebanese writer Mikhail Naimy. Gibran is best known worldwide for "The Prophet" (1923), a book of poetic essays on themes such as love, work, freedom, and death, which has been translated into more than one hundred languages and remains one of the best-selling books of the twentieth century. He was also an accomplished painter and draftsman, exhibiting his symbolist artwork in New York and Boston. Gibran died in New York in 1931, and his remains were returned to Bsharri, where the Gibran Museum now preserves his manuscripts, paintings, and personal library.

Sources: Khalil Gibran, The Prophet (1923) · Gibran Khalil Gibran, A Self-Portrait (trans. Anthony Ferris) · Gibran National Committee, Gibran Museum, Bsharri, Lebanon