Hanna Diyab

Syrian Maronite writer and storyteller

Antun Yusuf Hanna Diyab (Arabic: أنطون يوسف حنا دياب) was a Syrian writer and storyteller. He is best known today for tales of Aladdin and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves which have been added to the One Thousand and One Nights by French orientalist Antoine Galland, who had translated and included them after listening it from Diyab. Diyab was a Maronite.[1]

Hanna Diyab
Born
Antun Yusuf Hanna Diyab

c. 1688 (1688)
Diedafter 1763
Other namesYouhanna Diab
Occupations
  • Writer
  • storyteller
  • cloth merchant
Known forBest version tales of Aladdin and Ali Baba
Notable workThe Book of Travels

Early life

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Diyab was born around 1688 AD in Aleppo, Ottoman Syria. He was the youngest of his three brothers.[1] His Maronite Christian family were traders. He had learned French, Italian, Turkish and Occitan. In 1707, he met the French traveller Paul Lucas. Hanna Diyab became his servant and translator. They sailed to Egypt, Tripoli, Tunisia and then to Corsica, Livorno, Genoa and Marseille. They came to Paris in 1708.[2]

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 Creswell, Robyn. "On the Road | Robyn Creswell". ISSN 0028-7504. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
  2. Bottigheimer, Ruth B. (2014). "East Meets West: Hannā Diyāb and The Thousand and One Nights". Marvels & Tales. 28 (2): 302–324. ISSN 1536-1802.