Javahiri, Muhammad Mahdi Al-

Javahiri, Muhammad Mahdi Al- 

Born in 1905. Iraqi poet and public figure. At one time a teacher.

In the 1950’s, Javahiri was imprisoned for his part in the liberation movement; he edited the progressive newspaper Al-Rai al-Am (Public Opinion). He emigrated to Syria in 1955 and returned to his homeland after the Revolution of 1958. Works by Javahiri began appearing in print in 1925. Such narrative poems as Remembrance of Adnan al-Malik, Hero of the Arab People and Port Said are imbued with the idea of Arab liberation from imperialist oppression. During World War II, Javahiri dedicated his narrative poems Sevastopol’and Stalingrad to the Soviet Union. In 1971 he published an epic poem on the life of G. A. Nasser. Javahiri became a member of the World Peace Council in 1950.

WORKS

Divan al-Javahiri, vols. 1-3. Bagdad, 1953.
In Russian translation:“Mir zavtrashnego dnia.” In the collection Poety Azii. Moscow, 1957.