Birth: NULL/NULL/1910 Death:NULL/NULL/1975
Born in Jerusalem in 1910; lost sight at the age of four; was educated at the Schneller Syrian Orphanage in Jerusalem where he learned Arabic and English in Braille; was among the first blind persons to learn and introduce the Braille system of writing in Palestine; was admitted to the Islamic College in Jerusalem in 1925; his fondness of the English language motivated him to gain the Oxford School Certificate from the English College in Jerusalem in 1929; was the first blind student to be accepted at the AUB, from where he graduated in 1932; worked for the establishment of the first school for the blind in Palestine in 1934; earned a certificate in Education and Teaching Methods from the Teachers’ College in Edinburgh in 1934 and from London in 1935; spent a year in the Institute for the Blind in Switzerland and returned to Palestine in 1936; established Al-’Ala’iyah School for the Blind in Hebron in 1937 (which still gives lessons for the blind up to the 6th grade); later opened a branch of the school in Al-Bireh in 1949; started a printing house for Braille books in Arabic in Palestine as well as the Society for the Blind in Jerusalem; also established Al-Ahliyah Library for the Blind in Jerusalem; published Sawt Ad-Damir (Voice of Awareness) magazine in Braille and distributed it free of charge; was the first to publish the Holy Qur’an in the Braille system; was delegated by the UNESCO as supervisor for the establishment of an institute for the blind in Baghdad in 1954 and in Kuwait in 1955; translated a number of books related to raising awareness on blindness and Braille issues from English into Arabic; died in 1975.
