Hitti, Philip K.

Hitti, Philip K. (Khuri) (1886–1978) educator, historian, author; born in Shimlan, Lebanon (then part of Syria). He graduated from the American University of Beirut (1908) and went to the U.S.A. in 1913. He earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University (1915) and became a naturalized citizen in 1920. He was founder of the Syrian Education Society (1916) and he taught Arabic literature at Princeton (1926–54). He wrote widely acclaimed books, including History of the Arabs (1937) and A Short History of the Near East (1966).