Profile – UAE advisor and book lover Zaki Nusseibeh

CAIRO – 11 September 2017: UAE Cultural Advisor, Zaki Nusseibeh, has been there for the country since its inception, faithfully serving as Sheikh Zayed’s personal translator since before the UAE was even founded.

He hails from a long ancient line, and on the advice of Nusseibeh’s father he was led to the UAE. He took his chances on starting a bright new future there, and helped in leading the country to its seat of cultural power today.

Stronger still than Nusseibeh’s loyalty to the UAE is his love of books, which served as his lifeline while studying in Cambridge. During that time the Israeli-Arab war of 1967 broke out and Nusseibeh was unable to return to his home in Jerusalem, according to the National.

The only thing Nusseibeh had left were his collection of books which numbered at over a hundred. At that time his collection was considered very impressive, but is now utterly dwarfed by his current library. Today it numbers well over 40,000 books across multiple languages.

In an interview with the National, Nusseibeh states that some of his oldest collected books are from authors, such as Nizar Qabbani, T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound.

Other than books, Nusseibeh is also an avid lover of music¸ and tells the National that it is his love of music that helped him learn a diversity of languages, like German, Italian, Spanish English, and French. It was also vital to his job as a translator for Sheikh Zayed, who he states was instrumental in pushing Nusseibeh towards his future path in life.

Nusseibeh’s love of art has led to numerous contributions to the UAE’s culture, such as founding two of the country’s classical music festivals, as he is the vice-chairman of the cultural authority.