Kūlīt al-Khūrī

Colette Khoury (, also written as Kulit Khuri, Colette al al-Khuri, Colette Khuri; 1931 — April 2026) was a Syrian novelist and poet, who was the granddaughter of Faris al-Khoury who was the Prime Minister of Syria from 1944 to 1945. Khoury graduated from Damascus University with a bachelor's degree in French literature and she received a diploma from the school of literature in Beirut. Khoury's notability stems from both her work in politics and literature. Her work as a writer focused primarily on love and erotica, a subject that was previously taboo in Syrian literature.

Life and career

Early life Colette Khoury was born into a notable family, as her grandfather, Faris al-Khoury was known as a hero for his resistance against the French. In addition, her father had been minister for village and town affairs. Khoury's career began in 1957 and spanned more than six decades. Her literary career began with the publication of a collection of poems in French entitled "Vingt Ans" (Beirut, 1958). In it Khoury expressed her discontent with social constraints and the emptiness and aimlessness of her life; she also described her attempts to find salvation in love. Much of Khoury's work stemmed from her desire to avoid blatant retaliation; writing was the best and only way she could express herself. Khoury dedicated her work to immersing herself in the female psyche, particularly defending women's right to love. Khoury once said, "Since I always felt the need to express what was welling up inside me...the need to protest, the need to scream...and since I didn't want to scream with a knife, I screamed with my fingers and became a writer." Many of Khoury's stories covered topics like love and erotica, particularly from a female's perspective. Khoury wrote more than 20 novels, as well as many political and literary articles.

In 1959, she shocked the Arab world with a novel in which she wrote openly about love; this breakthrough novel Ayyam Maahou (Days With Him) was the first time a woman had audaciously written about a subject considered taboo in conservative Syrian society. Ayyam Maahou was inspired by a love affair with the legendary Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani. to the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Towards the end of her life, she wrote for the Syrian governmental newspaper Al-Ba'ath on a broad range of political and literary issues.

Personal life and death Khoury was twice married and divorced to the Spanish musician Rodrigo de Zayas, who was a grandson of American diplomat Francis Burton Harrison and the son of Mexican artist Marius de Zayas. Khoury and Zayas had one child, a daughter, Mercedes Nara de Zayas y Khoury.

Colette Khoury died in April 2026 at the age of 95.

Notable works "Ayyām maʻah" (1961) "Laylah wāḥidah" (1961) "Kiyān" (1968) "Dimashq baytī al-kabīr" (1970) "Qiṣṣatān" (1972) "Wa-marra ṣayf" (1975) "Daʼwah ilá al-Qunayṭirah" (1976) "al-Ayyām al-maḍīʼah : qiṣaṣ" (1984) "Wa-marra ṣayf : riwāyah" (1985) "Imraʼah : majmūʻat qiṣaṣ" (2000) "al-Marḥalah al-murrah : qiṣaṣ ṭawīlah" (2002) "Sa-talmisu aṣābiʻī al-shams : qiṣṣah ramzīyah" (2002) "Fī al-zawāyā-- ḥakāyā : tisʻ qiṣaṣ wa-masraḥīyah" (2003) "Kūlīt Khūrī : būḥ al-yāsmīn al-Dimashqī" (2008) "Wa-yabqá al-waṭan fawqa al-jamīʻ" (2010)