Hanna Mina
Syrian writer (1924–2018)
Hanna Mina (Arabic: حنا مينة; 9 March 1924 – 21 August 2018) was a Syrian novelist, described in Literature from the "Axis of Evil" as the country's "most prominent" writer.
His early novels belong to the movement of social realism in the literature of Syria, and focus on class conflict; his later works contain "a more symbolic analysis of class differences". His writing on the suffering of ordinary people was partly inspired by his own experiences, alternately working as a stevedore, barber and journalist; his autobiographical short story, "On the Sacks", was published in 1976.
Several of his works written in Arabic are set during the period of the French Mandate of Syria, or in the period immediately following independence. Mina has authored about 40 novels, varying in imaginary value and narrative significance. But his achievement lies in the foundation he laid for this literary genre. For his collective works and novels, Mina was awarded the Arab Writer's Prize in 2005.
Early life
Born to a Christian Arab family in Latakia in 1924, Hanna Mina spent his childhood in one of the villages near Iskenderun. Following the occupation of Turkish forces in the district (Hatay State), he moved back to Latakia with his family. Although with only an elementary school certificate, Mina used to write letters and petitions to the government on behalf of illiterates, and distributed the Communist Sawt al-Shaab (Voice of the People) newspaper alongside working as a barber.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Hanna Mina” is syrian writer (1924–2018). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Hanna, Mina and Syrian, not as a finished interpretation.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q950137. VIAF identifies the subject as 76343348. The Library of Congress control number is n84167312. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1924, 2018, 1976 and 2005.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hanna Mina” 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.