Anastas al-Karmali
- Died
- 1366 AH
- Born in
- Baghdad
Anastas al-Karmali (1283–1366 AH / 1866–1947 CE; a variant birth year of 1263 AH / 1846 CE is also recorded) was an Iraqi philologist, lexicographer, and Carmelite priest based in Baghdad, best known for founding the journal Lughat al-Arab .
Early Life and Education
He was born in Baghdad on 5 August 1866 CE to a Lebanese father from Bahrsaf in Bikfayya and an Iraqi mother from the Baghdadi family of Jubran . Prior to taking his monastic vows, he was named Butrus ibn Jibra'il Yusuf 'Awwad (and in another report, Butrus ibn Mikha'il Jibra'il 'Awwad) . He began his schooling in Baghdad at the Carmelite school and the Catholic Alliance school, where his aptitude for Arabic led to his appointment to teach it at the age of sixteen .
In 1886, he entered the Jesuit seminary in Beirut, teaching Arabic while studying Latin and Greek . He subsequently traveled to Europe, joining the Discalced Carmelite Order in Chèvremont, Belgium . He studied philosophy near Nice, completed his theological training in Montpellier, and was ordained a priest in 1312 AH (1894 CE) under the religious name Anastas-Marie de Saint-Élie (al-Ab Anastas Mari al-Ilyawi) . After traveling through Spain, he returned to Baghdad .
Career and Public Life
Upon his return, al-Karmali directed the Carmelite school in Baghdad and taught Arabic and French before leaving administrative work to dedicate himself entirely to linguistic research and writing . In 1329 AH (1911 CE), he founded the monthly cultural and philological journal Lughat al-Arab (The Language of the Arabs), which ran for three years before the First World War and resumed for six years afterward . He also edited the periodical Dar al-Salam for more than three years . To study the historical roots and loanwords of Arabic, he acquired knowledge of over ten languages, including Syriac, Hebrew, Aramaic, Ge'ez, Mandaic, Persian, Turkish, French, and Latin .
During World War I, the Ottoman authorities exiled him to Kayseri in Anatolia for one year and ten months (1914–1916) . In March 1917, his private library of roughly twelve thousand volumes was plundered, though he rebuilt his collection starting in 1918 . Under the British administration, he was appointed to the Iraqi Board of Education (Majlis al-Ma'arif) . He was elected an active member of the German Oriental Society in 1911, the Arab Scientific Academy in Damascus, and the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo .
Scholarly Contributions and Reception
Al-Karmali published hundreds of studies across prominent periodicals such as al-Muqtataf, al-Hilal, and al-Mashriq, frequently employing pseudonyms such as Satisna, Umkuh, Kalda, Fahr al-Jabiri, and al-Shaykh Ba'ith al-Khadri . His scholarship focused on historical lexicography, comparative Semitic philology, dialectology, and Iraqi local history, authoring works such as the historical survey Khulasat tarikh al-'Iraq (A Summary of the History of Iraq) and his multi-volume lexicon al-Mu'jam al-musa'id (The Auxiliary Dictionary) .
He adopted a critical stance toward both classical and contemporary authorities, subjecting traditional grammatical assertions and major lexicons such as Lisan al-'Arab and Taj al-'Arus to critical scrutiny . In literary history, he vigorously opposed Louis Cheikho's claims in Shu'ara' al-Nasraniyya, arguing that Cheikho had erroneously claimed non-Christian classical Arab poets for Christianity . While widely celebrated across the Arab world—including a public golden jubilee organized in Baghdad in 1928 chaired by Jamil Sidqi al-Zahawi—his sharp corrections of contemporary writers and neologisms drew occasional pushback from critics who accused him of pedantry or excessive coinages .
Death
Al-Karmali died on the morning of 7 January 1947 CE (1366 AH) at the Royal Hospital in Baghdad after a prolonged illness .
Answer updated
List of Works
Majallat Lughat al-Arab al-Iraqiyya (The Language of the Arabs) is an Iraqi monthly literary, scientific, and historical journal founded in Baghdad in 1329 AH / 1911 CE. It is dedicated to Arabic philology, lexicography, literature, and the history and geography of Iraq.