Egypt will celebrate the National Translator’s Day on Thursday, under the auspices of Minister of Culture Inas Abdel-Dayem and in the presence of a large group of the country’s foremost translators.
The celebration will be held at Taha Hussein Hall at the National Centre for Translation. It coincides with the birth anniversary of Rifa’a Al-Tahtawi. The 19th century Egyptian writer, teacher, and translator was a pioneer of the translation into Arabic in the modern era.
The celebration will include speeches by Abdel-Dayem, Director of the National Centre for Translation Karma Sami, and renowned translator Muhammad Al-Anani. The National Centre for Translation will also hold an awards ceremony in which the Rifa’a Al-Tahtawi Award, the Scientific Translation Award, and the Youth Award will be presented.
The event will also celebrate the issuance of Histoire De La Mer Rouge De Lesseps A Nos Jours (History of the Red Sea from De Lesseps Until Today) by Roger Joint Daguenet. The book, which was translated by Professor Hassan Nasr El-Din, won this year’s Rifa’a Al-Tahtawi Award.
Al-Tahtawi was one of the first Egyptian academics to write extensively about Western culture, in an attempt to create a bridge of understanding between Arab and Western civilisations. As part of the work to do so, he established the School of Languages in 1835, which aimed to prepare translators of a high standard to translate Western books.
To celebrate the occasion of National Translator’s Day, the National Centre for Translation will offer a 50% discount on all its publications. During the celebration, it will also hold a book signing ceremony.
