Muhammad Umar Memon (Urdu: محمد عمر میمن), Professor Emeritus of Urdu Literature and Arabic Studies[1] at University of Wisconsin–Madison, was an accomplished scholar, translator, Urdu short story writer, and the editor of The Annual of Urdu Studies.[2]
Memon retired from the University of Wisconsin after 38 years of service[3] but remained active as a scholar: besides working on translation of Urdu works into English,[4] he served on the editorial board of Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies[5] and was also an advisor to the Urdu Project, which was created to meet the challenges of publishing translations of literary works of Urdu language in the North American market.[6]
Biography
Memon was born in Aligarh, India in 1939 to a Memon family. In 1954, his family moved to Karachi, Pakistan where he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees. After his graduation, he taught at Sachal Sarmast College and Sind University. In 1964 he won a Fulbright scholarship to the United States. This move enabled him to earn a master's degree from Harvard University and eventually a doctorate in Islamic Studies from UCLA. Memon joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1970 and retired from there after 38 years of service. At UW he taught Urdu, Islamic Studies as well courses in Arabic and Persian.[7]
Scholarly and creative work
While a complete list of his scholarly and creative works can be found on his website, some major works are listed below:[8]
- Muhammad Umar Memon; Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm Ibn Taymīyah (1976). Ibn Taimīya's struggle against popular religion: with an annotated translation of his Kitāb iqtiḍāʾ aṣ-ṣirāṭ al-mustaquīm mukhālafat aṣḥāb al-jaḥīm. Mouton. ISBN 978-90-279-7591-1. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- Studies in the Urdu Gazal and Prose Fiction. Madison: University of Wisconsin press, 1979.
- Memon, Muhammad Umar (1998). An epic unwritten. New Delhi ; New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-027227-7.
- Memon, Muhammad Umar (2005). The Harper Collins book of Urdu short stories. New Delhi: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 978-81-7223-611-3.
- English translations of many of Naiyer Masud's Urdu short stories, including the volumes Essence of Camphor and The Snake Catcher
References
- ^ Lucas, John (14 January 2002). "Professor published world's only English journal on Urdu". Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.
- ^ Anjum Dawood Alden (14 January 2009). "Interview with Muhammad Umar Memon". Pak US Online. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
- ^ Khan, Abroo H. (2009), "An Interview with Dr. Muhammad Umar Memon", Pakistaniaat: A Journal of Pakistan Studies, 1 (2): 180–199, retrieved 23 July 2011
- ^ "Muhammad Umar Memon's Work". Word Without Borders. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
- ^ "People". Archived from the original on 27 March 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
- ^ "Urdu Project". urduproject.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2009.
- ^ All this information gleaned from these two interviews:Anjum Dawood Alden (14 January 2009). "Interview with Muhammad Umar Memon". Pak US Online. Retrieved 23 July 2011.; http://www.pakistaniaat.org/article/download/5001/3412
- ^ "Bibliography - Muhammad Umar Memon".
