Greatest Arab poet house in Baghdad becomes cultural center

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, inaugurated on Saturday the house of the greatest Arab poet, Muhammad Mahdi Al-Jawahiri, in Baghdad, according to a press statement issued by the Prime Minister press office.

The statement mentioned that the inauguration of Jawahiri’s renovated house was attended by the Minister of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities, the Mayor of Baghdad, and the family of the great Iraqi poet.

“The government is keen to sponsor culture, and to evoke the vivid biographies of Iraqi innovators, and their intellectual and cultural achievements,” Al-Kadhimi said.  

Jawahiri who was born in Najaf in 1899 is considered one of the best and greatest Arab poets of the 20th century. He was also nicknamed The Greatest Arab Poet, and is considered the national poet of Iraq.

Jawahiri’s renovated house is the only house he owned in Iraq until he went to Prague in early 1980 because of his stances on the policies of the ruling authority. He spent his life in the Iraqi capital renting several houses in different areas of Baghdad.

Jawahiri built his only house at his own expense after he acquired a 540 square meter plot of land in the Al-Qadisiyah district in Baghdad. The plot of land was one of many plots distributed by the government to journalists, and the construction of the house was completed by the end of 1971.

Jawahiri’s renovated house might be transformed into a cultural center in which cultural seminars, poetry and literary sessions, and painting exhibitions will be held, and they will be sponsored by Baghdad Municipality, which is now the official owner of the house after it was purchased from the heirs.