Gibran Khalil Gibran:
Was a friend of the founding father of Boustany’s Publishing House, and Boustany’s was the first publishing house to publish Gibran’s books:
- Born 6th January 1883 in Bcherri, Lebanon.
- His father was a shepherd, and his mother played a huge role in Gibran’s intellectual maturation. She spoke Arabic, English & French and she came from a prestigious religious background.
- Gibran went to School in Boston and then went back to Lebanon to school at Madraset Al-Hikmat, which is to day located in Ashrafiet, Beirut from 1896 – 1901.
- He graduated with high honors at 18, and then he went to Paris to learn Painting.
- During the following years he painted, designed book covers, and wrote in Arabic many short essays.
- In 1908 he went to Paris again and studied at the Acedemie Julien and at the Ecole des Beaux Arts.
- Miss Mary Haskell was Gibran’s good friend and she financed his studies. She was an American School headmistress in Boston who supported talented young orphans.
- In 1912 Gibran moved to New York and lived there until the end of his life.
- In 1923, The Prophet was published which is now being translated into over twenty different languages.
- Khalil Gibran died on April 10, 1931.