Syrian researcher & historian Soheil Zakkar passes away

Syrian historian and researcher Soheil Zakkar passed away two days ago aged 84 ending a long and eventful career that extended for over six decades in writing and translation of history books.

Zakkar, who was born in Hama city in 1936, graduated from the Faculty of Letters, Damascus University, the Department of History in 1964. In the same year, he was delegated to Britain on a postgraduate scholarship where he obtained a Ph.D. degree from London University in 1969.

Upon his return to his homeland, he taught at Damascus University for about 40 years and wrote books on various periods of the Arab Muslim history through which he tried to throw light on the great role played by Arab Muslims and their great contributions to human civilization in all domains. To this end, he exerted strenuous efforts to revive the Arab Historians’ Union to play a role in shedding light on the Arab Muslim civilization.

Throughout his long career, he authored more than 200 books, the most famous was “The Damascene Encyclopedia about the Crusade Wars” in which he throws light on the reasons of the wars, the main battles and results of the wars in all domains.

He also monitored a number of historical TV dramas including “The Search for Saladin” by director Najdat Anzour which deals with the life of the great Muslim leader Saladin and his great victories against the Crusades which led to the liberation of Jerusalem. The series focuses on the necessity for the Arab people to make Saladin a source of inspiration to achieve victory against their enemies.

He also monitored Haroun al-Rashid, a TV drama that tackles the biography of the famous Abbasid caliph and his achievements in all domains.

K.Q.