Muhammad Sa'id al-Sakkar

Muhammad Sa'id al-Saggar (Arabic: محمد سعيد الصكار) (French: Mohammed Saïd Saggar) (born 25 April 1934, Miqdadiyah) was an Iraqi poet and calligrapher.^[1] He was born in Miqdadiyah in the Diyala Governorate in 1934.^[2] He used to be a painter; he ran a publishing house in Paris since 1978, and has been a journalist since 1955. He published his literature and critical articles in many newspapers and magazines.^[3] He has published over 14 books of poetry, theatre, the short story, linguistics, art, and other disciplines. He is arguably the most distinguished Iraqi artist-calligrapher in the 21st century. al-Saggar died in Paris on March 23, 2014.^[2]

Muhammad Sa'id Saggar
Born	25 April 1934 (1934-04-25) Miqdadiyah, Iraq
Died	24 March 2014 (2014-03-25) (aged 79) Paris, France
Nationality	Kingdom of Iraq Ba'athist Iraq France
Occupation(s)	Poet and calligrapher
Organization	Union of Iraqi Writers

Life

al-Saggar was born in 1934 in Miqdadiyah, east of Baghdad, but grew up in Basra,^[4] a governate in southern Iraq. Basra remained visible in al-Saggar's works,^[5] starting with his first poetry collection Rain (1962) and An Orange in the Surah of Water (1968),^[6] as well as his many paintings, which made him a prominent present-day calligrapher and artisan.^[7][8] The Iraqi artist has resided in France since 1978; he chose it when he was forced into exile and had more time to work on his art works in his studio. In his long professional career, al-Saggar practiced journalism as an editor, calligrapher, and designer since 1955.

Works

His collections of poetry include:

• Rain; 1962
• An Orange in the Surah of Water; 1968^[6]
• The Complete Works of Poetry
• A Collection in French; 1995

His publications include:

• Arabic Calligraphy for Youth
• The Days of Abd al-Haqq al-Baghdadi^[9]
• The Pen and What Has Been Written^[10]
• The Plight of Mahmoud al-Shahid^[11]

Awards

al-Saggar has received several awards, most notably the Architectural Heritage Award, which he received in recognition of his design of the Mecca Gate. The Arab World Institute honored al-Saggar on 17 March.^[12] "[al-Sakkar was] one of the most outstanding representatives of modern Arabic calligraphy," said Jack Lang, President of the Arab World Institute and former French Minister of Culture.^[13]

al-Saggar created the "Focused Arabic Alphabet" 40 years ago in an attempt to simplify Arabic script for the developments of digital printing systems.^[14] Thanks to this innovation, the first informatics applications were launched, enabling computer designers to design various Arabic texts currently in use.