Jordanian poet and former Minister of Culture Grace Hanna Samawy has passed away on Thursday, March 11, 2021. He was 65.

Grace Hanna Samawy was born in Amman in 1956. He studied in his town of Al Fuheis until middle school before completing his secondary education at Suwaileh School for Boys in 1976. He later studied media and communication in the United States and obtained a BA in English language and literature from the Jordanian University in 1988.

The late Samawi began his professional career by working as a TV producer and host for a number of cultural programs that were aired both on the Arabic and English channels (1992-1997) before becoming Deputy Chairman of the Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts (1997-2001) and later as Chairman of the Festival (2001-2006). He was later appointed as Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture (2006-2011) and a Minister of Culture (2011). He also produced and hosted several cultural programs in a number of TV and radio stations including “Thakirat Nagham” (Memory of a Melody) and “Noon Al Niswa”.

The late Samawy was also a member of the Supreme National Committee that announced Amman as the Capital of Arab Culture in 2002, and a member of the Jordanian Committee at the Hannover International Fair.

In 1987, Grace Samawy was granted the top prize for best poem about the Palestinian Intifada from the Jordanian People’s Committee for Supporting the Intifada (sharing it with Habib Al Ziyudi and Ali Al Fazza’). Moreover, he was a member of the Jordanian Writers Association.

Some of his most notable works include: “Zala Ukhra Lil Hikma” (‘Another Lapse of Judgment’, a poetry collection published by the Arab Foundation for Research and Publishing- Beirut: 2004). It is worth mentioning that Samawy’s work was translated into a number of foreign languages including English, French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian and Turkish.