Mahdi Amel

Hassan Abdullah Hamdan , more commonly known by his pseudonym Mahdi Amel , (Harouf, Lebanon 1936 – Beirut, Lebanon 18 May 1987) was a Lebanese Marxist philosopher, historian and militant in the second half of the 20th century.

Amel was a professor of philosophy at the Lebanese University in Beirut, and a prominent member of both the Lebanese Communist Party and the Union of Lebanese Writers. He also contributed to the magazine al-Tariq, the mouthpiece of the Lebanese Communist Party.

'Amel was assassinated at the age of 51, amidst the violence and chaos of the Lebanese civil war.

Early life Mahdi was born to a Shia Muslim family in 1936 in Harouf, close to the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh. His parents moved him and his siblings to Beirut shortly afterwards. In Beirut, Mahdi attended high school at the al-Maqasid School. In 1956, Mahdi began his university studies in France, eventually receiving a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Lyon. Afterwards, Mahdi began his active involvement with the Lebanese Communist Party, joining in 1960. Amel was walking on Algeria street when two men called his name. As he turned around, the men shot him. He died later that day at the American University of Beirut's hospital.

Theoretical Introductions to Study the influence of Socialism on the National Liberation Movement. Conflict of Arab Civilization or Conflict of Arab bourgeoisie? Theory in Political Practice: Research in the Causes of the Lebanese Civil War. Introduction to Critique of Sectarianism: The Palestinian Cause in the Ideology of the Lebanese Bourgeoisie. Marx in Edward Said's Orientalism: Intelligence for the West and Passion for the East? In the Scientific Nature of Ibn Khaldun's School of Thought. Introduction to the Critique of Sectarianism in the Sectarian State. Arab Marxism and National Liberation: Selected Writings.

Poetry On top of political activism and articles on Marxism, Mahdi also authored poems, which he signed under the name Hilal Bin Zaytoun. Time Improvisations The Space of N