Shaikh Abdullah Bin Khalid launches the Bahraini Authors Dictionary

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Isa Cultural Centre, HH Shaikh Abdullah Bin Khalid Al Khalifa launched Bahraini Authors Dictionary 1900 – 2011, which is considered the first of its kind in the history of Bahrain’s Contemporary Culture, documenting Bahraini authors’ march and their intellectual production. The dictionary also highlights their cultural, scientific and research efforts since the beginning of the past century, particularly the inauguration comes in line with the Kingdom’s preparations for celebrating the National Day, and the activities of Manama, the capital of Arab culture 2012. HH Shaikh Abdullah stressed the prestigious position of Bahrain on the local and world cultural scene, because of its remarkable potential and continuous intellectual capability that makes it able to enrich communities with knowledge. In a statement to Bahrain News Agency (BNA), Shaikh Abdullah said that the dictionary would not be the last, for they will start its second part during a short period of time, expressing his pride with the dictionary which was crowned by His Majesty the King, where he was its first authors with a book entitled “The First Light,” which was released in 1986. He also reinforced that the center is working hard to contribute with intellectual productions that elevate culture in Bahrain. The Director of the National Library at Isa Town Cultural Center, the one who prepared the dictionary, Dr.. Mansour Sarhan stated in his speech that Bahrain was witnessing a great prosperity in the local intellectual production, under the leadership of His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, as well as through HM’s reform project. He highlighted that the number of the books’ titles issued during the reign of HM, particularly in the period from March 1999 until the end of December of 2011, reached 1750 books’ titles. This is compared to the issuance of 1502 books titles of a book just over a hundred years, starting from the beginning of 1900 to February of 1999, promoting Manama to be worthy of being the capital of Arab culture in the prosperous reign of HM. Dr Mansour stated that the dictionary included 315 Bahraini authors, and the books’ titles were about 1000, which covered all topics and fields of knowledge, aiming at making the present and future generations review the information and data of each author, and highlighting the pioneering role of Bahrain in the production of knowledge, and encouraging Bahraini authors to provide cultural and intellectual creativity at all levels. Dr Mansour expressed his thanks and gratitude for HH Shaikh Abdullah Bin Khalid for his continuous support and encouragement that he received during preparing the dictionary, enriching him with ideas that had a great impact on the work. He also thanked the Advisor for the Academic and Cultural Affairs of HM the King, the Deputy Chairman of Board of Trustees of Isa Cultural Center, Dr. Mohammed Jaber Al Ansari for providing views and thoughts concerned with the methodology of the dictionary and the required data to be documented. Dr Mansour also appreciated the efforts of the members of the Board of Trustees of Isa Cultural Center, as well as the efforts of the affiliates of the center, including its CEO Dr. Khaldoon Aba Hussain, who facilitated the preparation of the dictionary.