Lamia Abbas

Lamia Abbas Amara (Arabic: لميعة عباس عمارة‎; 1929 – 18 June 2021) was an Iraqi poet. She was a pioneer of modern Arabic poetry and an important figure in contemporary poetry in Iraq.

Biography[]

She was born in Baghdad to a Mandaean family, and later grew up in Amarah.^[1] Her uncle Zahroun Amara (died 1929) was a famous goldsmith,^[2] while her cousin Abdul Razzak Abdul Wahid (1930–2015) was also a poet.^[3] She studied at the Teachers' Training College, which later became part of the Baghdad University, and graduated in 1950.

She was a member of the administrative board of the Iraqi Writers Union in Baghdad between 1963 and 1975, a member of the administrative board of the Syriac Synod in Baghdad, and deputy permanent representative of Iraq to UNESCO in Paris between 1973 and 1975, and director of culture and arts at the University of Technology in Baghdad.^[3]

She left Iraq in 1978 and lived most of her exile in San Diego, United States after emigrating during the time of Saddam Hussein. She specialized in Arabic eloquent and popular Iraqi poetry. She was awarded the National Order of the Cedar by the Lebanese state for her work.^[4][a]

Abbas died in the United States on 18 June 2021, aged 92.^[4]

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