"Leaving the Spanish Arabization an orphan"... The departure of Pedro Montapez, the most prominent scholar of Andalusian heritage and the bridge of communication between two worlds

The Spanish Arabist, Pedro Martinez Montapez, has passed away from our world at the age of 90. He was considered one of the friends of the Arabs and the Arabic language, and the most prominent scholar of Andalusian heritage and the classics of Arabic literature.

He left our world before the days of the Arabist, historian, translator and academic Pedro Martinez Montapez (1933-2023) at the age of 90, and Montapez is one of the prominent figures in the field of Spanish Arabization.

He was able to establish the concept of Arabization in the academic scientific sense, and most of the Arabists recognize his great position in the field of Arabization, and he was in contact with Arab and Spanish societies.

In addition to university teaching and managing academic work, Montapez devoted his time to studying the contemporary Arab world, and was known as a fierce defender of the need to get acquainted closely with Arab culture, and he is known as one of the most prominent scholars of Andalusian heritage and the classics of Arabic literature.

The late Arabist is famous for saying, "Spain would not have entered the civilized history had it not been for the eight centuries that it lived under the shadow of Islam, and it was a source of light and culture to the neighboring European countries, which were floundering at the time in the darkness of ignorance, illiteracy, and backwardness."

It is noteworthy that Montapez contributed to introducing many Arab writers to Spanish speakers by translating a number of their works, and he was known for his refined poetic taste, as he tasted Arabic poetry and wrote Spanish poetry, and his choices of works translated from Arabic into Spanish indicate his high literary level.

The beginnings of an Arab intellectual passion

Pedro Martínez was born in the administrative region of Andalusia, in southern Spain, in mid-1933. He graduated from the Faculty of History and Philology at the University of Complutense.

He worked as a professor at the Universities of Granada and Alicante, and held many academic positions. He was a professor of the history of Islam at the University of Seville, and director of the Department of Arabic Language and Islam and the “Institute of Oriental and African Studies” at the Autonomous University of Madrid.

The late Spanish Arabist Pedro Martinez (Spanish press)

Before that, he worked as director of the Spanish Cultural Center in Cairo (currently the Cervantes Institute) between 1958 and 1962, and at the same time he was director of the Spanish language department at the Faculty of Languages in Cairo, and he also taught in its universities for more than 7 years.

He liked to be called "the Arabist" and not the orientalist, due to the distortions that befell the last word at the hands of some orientalists who did not do justice to Arab culture and its symbols with their colonial view that was rejected by the late.

The Arabist and academic Ignatius Gutierrez, professor of Arabic language and literature and contemporary history in the Islamic world at the Autonomous University of Madrid, says, "Since he joined the teaching corps at the Spanish University in Seville, and from there after a short period in Madrid, Montapeth was distinguished by the spirit of renewal and expansion of the horizons of Arab and Islamic studies in our country."

The last fort

Pedro Martinez faced the arrows of the indignant right against the history and culture of the Arabs and the Arabic language with courage and an honorable position. He cared about the Arabic language and its culture, and he preferred to speak in the Arabic language that he learned in Tetouan, Cairo and Baghdad.

And Ignatius Gutierrez notes that Montapeth is "one of the few European Arabists who have mastered modern classical Arabic recently, and he does not refrain from using it in his public interventions."

He added, "Montabeth used to frequent Arab countries to give lectures there and contribute to several research and cooperation projects, which proves his popularity in Arab cultural and university circles."

Many researchers believe that Montabeth stressed that the Arabic language is "our only remaining fortress, and that it is a great language whose essence lies in its sensual, moral and structural richness." He has always sought to find linguistic evidence indicating the strength of the Arabic roots in the Spanish language.

Pedro Martinez was closely associated with Arab and Spanish intellectuals and universities (Spanish press)

As for the Iraqi novelist and translator, Shaker Nuri, he affirms that "Montabeth lived the details of the Arabic language, making the issue of Andalusia a meeting point for peoples, and he did not do this on the Spanish scale, but rather extended to the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America," and he continues, "Therefore, his influence was increasing day after day."

Bridges of communication between the two cultures

Montapez played a prominent role in introducing Arab and Islamic issues, as he opened new horizons for analyzing the contemporary Arab world, and penetrated Spanish universities. He also did not stop holding seminars and studies, establishing the Department of Arab-Spanish Cultures in 2016.

Dr. Shaker Nuri states that Montapez "came to Spanish Arabization at a time when these studies needed to move or change the pattern of thinking in which they were immersed." Pedro Martinez, in his scientific and academic path, combined research in history with studying Arabic literature and translating it into Spanish.

The Arabist and academic José Miguel Puerta, Professor of Art History at the University of Granada, confirms that "During his life immersed in culture and literature, Montapez conducted several researches on the contemporary Arab world with its cultural and political aspects, and on the concept of Andalusia in the past and present, as he delved into Arab-Spanish relations in the Middle Ages and modernity." .

It is noteworthy that Montapez was interested in his writings in studying the Arab and Islamic heritage, which he considered one of the main components of Spanish culture and the personality of the Spanish citizen until today, whether in its present influences in the arts and literature or in the culture of food and drink, customs and traditions, and others.

Dr. Shaker Nuri says that Montabeth "gave Andalusia a special entity with all its values and symbols. He resurrected it from the rubble of the past and removed confusion from it, and if the Spaniards discover a rich literary world."

Dr. Shaker Nuri: Montabeth lived the details of the Arabic language, making the issue of Andalusia a meeting point for peoples (Al-Jazeera)

Montapeth delved deeper into his Arabist studies without falling into the prevailing stereotypes, as he presented a positive model for understanding the Arab and Islamic world, and his works were a reference for everyone eager to know the contemporary Arab world, its language, culture and literature.

Nuri considers that the most important thing that this Arabist did was that he removed the borders between the Andalusian heritage and the Spanish heritage, as long as there were bridges of understanding and exchange between them, as well as the bonds that link the Arabs with the culture of the Mediterranean, which is the common vessel between many peoples despite their different languages and cultures, but they share in unifying symbols emanating from the conscience and depths of this sea.

The Palestinian cause

The Arabist Pedro Martinez was known for his defense of Palestinian and Arab rights since the sixties of the last century. He also held the position of president of the “Association of Friends of the Palestinian People” in Spain, and wrote many books on this aspect, including “Poets of the Palestinian Resistance” (1974), and “Palestine.” In Current Arabic Poetry" (1980).

Ignatius Gutierrez believes that "Montapeth's performance was distinguished in transmitting the literature of the Palestinian resistance specifically to the Spanish reader, especially Latin American readers," and refers to a feature unique to Montapeth among the Arabists of his time, which is "that he was a follower of political, cultural and social products, which turned him into an Arabist." Multidisciplinary.

Miguel Puerta notes that "the late Pedro Martinez was unique in his sincere respect for the opinions of the other, his constant comfort, his love for the Arabs, his solidarity with their causes, and the establishment of a relationship of friendship and direct cooperation with many Arab writers and intellectuals."

Arabist and academic Jose Miguel Puerta: Montapeth delved into the history of the Middle Ages and the modern (the island)

"multi-disciplined Arabist"

Montapeth enriched the Spanish Arabization movement with his intellectual and literary writings, and his first book was published in 1956 on Gibran Khalil Gibran, Elia Abu Madi, Michael Naima and others, and he tried to monitor the intellectual and literary production of Arab writers in Latin America.

Montapeth left more than 30 authors, in addition to translations and articles, and among his most important books:

"Explorations in New Arabic Literature" (1977).
"The Arabs and the Mediterranean" (1999).
Western Aspirations and Arab Deprivation (2008).

He also dealt with his research in the history of the Arabs, and issued several works in this field that he published since the nineties of the last century, including:

"Thinking about the history of the Arabs" (1995).
The Challenge of Islam (1997).
The book "On the Borders of Introductions... Seeing What is Arab with Other Eyes" (2022).
Andalusia... Significance and Symbolism (2018).
On the 500th anniversary of the fall of Granada (1492), he wrote the book "Islamic Europe... The Magic of a Millennium Civilization."

The Arabist Montabith translated into Spanish the works of the most important Arab poets, such as Mahmoud Darwish, Nizar Qabbani, Abd al-Wahhab al-Bayati and others, and there are many publications that were known by basic names in Arabic literature, including:

Contemporary Arabic Poetry (1958).
"Arabic Love Poems" (Anthology of Nizar Qabbani) 1965.
Realistic Arab Poets (Anthology 1970).
"Songs of Mihyar Al-Dimashqi" by Adonis (1997).