Syrian Writers: The departure of writer and translator Rifaat Atefeh is a loss of culture and thought

Damascus-SANA

After four decades of intellectual achievement with which he enriched the Arab library with books and translations through which he transferred the masterpieces of Spanish and Latin American literature into Arabic, the writer and translator Rifaat Atfa passed away as one of the flags of translation and Arab culture.

The deceased left at the end of the sixties to Spain, to obtain a master's degree in literature from the University of Madrid and a doctorate from the University of Complutense, in addition to his work in translation. He wrote short stories, novels and poetry to translate some of his literary works into Spanish to win many awards, including the Medal of Theater Directors in Spain and a shield Spanish Arabists and friends of the Syrian Arab Cultural Center in Madrid.

Atfa served as director of the Syrian Arab Cultural Center in Madrid, and was one of its founders, and one of the few fluent translators from the Spanish language. 1999) by another Spaniard, Juan Goytisolo, along with many works by the Chilean novelist Isabel Allende, for whom he translated about ten novels between 1997 and 2015, including “The Infinite Plan,” “Daughter of Fortune,” “Summary of Days,” and “The Game of Eviscerator.” and many more.

Atfeh, who passed away at the age of 76, was mourned by a number of writers, writers, and translators who commended his great role in enriching the Arab library with masterpieces of Spanish and Latin American literature. The head of the Arab Writers Union, Dr. Muhammad al-Hourani, said: “The late Rifaat Atfeh is one of the most prominent pillars in the Syrian cultural and creative arena. And it constitutes a milestone in the transfer of other sciences and cultures to Arabic or vice versa, which added to the Arab library a comprehensive intellectual achievement, in addition to introducing researchers, writers and creators of other nationalities to the essence of Arab culture.

And he had a great credit for introducing Arab readers to the most important Spanish literary works, this is what the Director General of the Syrian General Book Authority, Dr. Nayef Al-Yassin, said, adding: The late Atfa was known to the Arab public thanks to his many translations of novels, in addition to his distinguished cultural activity that he carried out from During his work as director of the Arab Cultural Center in Masyaf, and then founder and director of the Syrian Cultural Center in Madrid, as his departure is a loss for culture, thought and literature.

The editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Literature, Dr. Jihad Bakfiloni, said that what the late translated literary works presented was new, innovative and distinguished in his choice of works that he was translating from among the masterpieces of Spanish literature, in addition to being a lecturer on Spanish literature and history in Spain, France, Mexico, Lebanon, Jordan, Algeria, Egypt and Syria. He described his departure as a great loss for translation in Syria and the Arab world.

He enjoyed wide cultural popularity because he possessed a rich and different knowledge stock. This was explained by the head of the Hama branch of the Arab Writers Union, the writer Mustafa Al-Samudi, pointing out that the late distinguished himself, in addition to his literary career rich in translation, poetry, story and theater, with his high morals, good behavior and elegant style in his dealings. with colleagues.

Editor-in-Chief of the Cultural Bridges magazine at the Ministry of Culture, translator and writer Hossam El-Din Khaddour explained that the deceased was able to leave his own cultural imprint. He presented it from a cultural activity during his presidency of the Syrian Arab Cultural Center in Madrid.

Muhammad Khaled Al-Khader and Shatha Hammoud

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