"Abou Naddara" Press Run Available Online from Heidelberg

Ya‘qub Sanu‘a

Ya‘qub Sanu‘a (also James Sanua) (1839-1912) was a pioneering Egyptian journalist, dramatist, and satirist in the 19th century who published a popular satirical paper, mostly from exile in France, with various titles but using variations on his nom de plume, "Abou Naddara," (the man who wears glasses). From an Egyptian Jewish family, he wrote variously in Arabic, French, English and Italian, and also knew Hebrew. His publication from French exile was smuggled into Egypt and became quite popular. His cartoons were the first to be captioned in Egyptian colloquial rather than Standard Arabic, and political cartoons still do this routinely.

The University of Heidelberg now has posted the complete run of newspapers from 1878 to 1910, along with other materials including unpublished manuscripts, online as "The Abou Naddara Collection."

Historians of Middle Eastern Journalism and of Egyptian politics in the late 19th and early 20th century should find this a valuable resource.