Constantin Zureiq
Syrian historian (1909–2000)
Constantin Zureiq (Arabic: قسطنطين زريق, romanized: Qusṭanṭīn Zurayq; [qɔn.sˤɑnˈtˤiːn zoˈrejq]; April 18, 1909 – August 11, 2000) was a prominent Syrian intellectual who was one of the first to pioneer and express the importance of Arab nationalism. He stressed the urgent need to transform stagnant Arab society utilizing rational thought and radical modification of the methods of thinking and acting. Some of his ideas, such as the "Arab mission" and "national philosophy" became key concepts for Arab nationalist thinkers. He was a strong proponent of the intellectual reformation of Arab society, emphasizing the need for rationalism and an ethical revolution.
Zurayik is credited with coining the term Nakba (Arabic for "the catastrophe") to refer to the defeat of the Arabs and loss of Palestine in his 1948 book Ma'na an-Nakba (The Meaning of the Disaster).
Life and academic career
Constantin Zurayk was born in Damascus, Syria Vilayet on April 18, 1909, during the waning years of the ruling Ottoman Empire, to a Greek Orthodox Christian family. He received his primary and secondary education in the Orthodox school systems and had an obsession with acquiring knowledge. He continued his education at the American University of Beirut, and eventually received his PhD at Princeton University all by the age of twenty-one. He immediately turned to teaching and became a professor of history at the American University of Beirut.
After receiving his PhD, Zurayk focused his aims in teaching and politics.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2464719. VIAF identifies the subject as 22939272. The Library of Congress control number is n82270605. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1909, 2000 and 1948.
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This entry incorporates text from “Constantin Zureiq” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.