Egyptian writer, teacher, translator, Egyptologist and renaissance intellectual
1801 CE
to 1873 CE
Rifa'a al-Tahtawi (also spelt Tahtawy; 1801–1873) is an Egyptian writer, teacher, translator, Egyptologist and renaissance intellectual.
Tahtawi is among the first Egyptian scholars to write about Western cultures in an attempt to bring about a reconciliation and an understanding between Islamic and Christian civilizations.
He founds the School of Languages in 1835 and is influential in the development of science, law, literature and Egyptology in 19th-century Egypt.
His work will influence that of many later scholars including Muhammad Abduh.