(b. 14 December 1861 in Beirut, d. 21 July 1914 in Cairo), outstanding representative of the Nahḍa [ q.v.] or Arabic cultural and literary renaissance of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Son of an illiterate Greek Orthodox cook who considered education, except for some reading and writing skills, unnecessary, Zaydān was more than any other Arab intellectual of his time a self-made man. His autobiography (Eng. tr. Th. Philipp, 1979, 1990) gives information on his amazing intellectual development, from being a waiter and cook …