Edward Said(1935 — 2003)

Edward Saïd was born in Jerusalem in 1935 into a well-off family of Arab Christians, but he grew up between Cairo, Lebanon, and the United States. All his life, he felt torn between several identities: an Arab with an English first name (“Edward,” chosen by his mother in tribute to the Prince of Wales), a Christian in a Muslim world, a Palestinian in America.

Saïd was an accomplished pianist and a passionate lover of classical music. For many years he wrote music criticism, and in 1999 he co-founded, together with the Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, an ensemble bringing together young Israeli and Arab musicians to play together across the divides of conflict.

In 1978, his book *Orientalism* caused a scandal and became one of the most debated academic works of the century. In it, Saïd shows how Western scholars and artists invented a fantasized “Orient,” exotic and backward, the better to justify colonial domination.

In July 2000, during a visit to the southern border of Lebanon after the Israeli withdrawal, Saïd was photographed throwing a stone toward a border post. The photo sparked controversy: his critics saw it as an act of violence, while he replied that it was merely a symbolic gesture of joy shared with his son.

Diagnosed with leukemia in 1991, Saïd continued to teach, write, and campaign for twelve years despite his illness. During this period he wrote his memoir, *Out of Place* (1999), in which he looks back on his childhood and his quest for identity.