Etel Adnan

Etel Adnan studied at University of Paris, Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley. The recorded working language is Greek, Turkish and Arabic. The field of work recorded is poetry, literary activity and painting. Places of work recorded in the authority are France. Employment is recorded with Dominican University of California. Work by Etel Adnan is recorded in the collections of Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and New Britain Museum of American Art.

• Name — Etel Adnan • Born — 24 February 1925 • Birthplace — Beirut, Greater Lebanon, French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon • Died — 14 November 2021 • Place of death — Paris, France • Education — * University of Paris • University of California, Berkeley • Harvard University • Movement — Hurufiyya movement • Notable Works — * Sitt Marie Rose • The Arab Apocalypse • Partner — Simone Fattal • Awards — * Lambda Literary Award (2013) • Griffin Poetry Prize (2020)

Etel N. Adnan was born in 1925 in Beirut, Lebanon. Adnan's mother, Rose "Lily" Lacorte, was Greek Orthodox from Smyrna and her father, Assaf Kadri, was a Muslim, and a high-ranking Ottoman officer from Damascus, Ottoman Syria, and whose mother was Albanian. Adnan's father was a soldier who came from a wealthy family, she referred to him as an Arab in one interview, and as a Turk in another. He was a top officer and former classmate of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk at the military academy. In contrast, Adnan's mother was raised in extreme poverty; her parents met in Smyrna during World War I while her father was serving as an officer in Smyrna. Prior to marrying Adnan's mother, her father was already married with three children. After the Ottoman Empire collapsed, Adnan's parents migrated to Beirut. Adnan stated that her mother was 16 years old when she met her father, at a time when "the Greeks in Turkey were in concentration camps." Adnan grew up in Beirut in a multilingual environment. She spoke Greek and Arabic with her parents, and later recalled that she also spoke Turkish until about the age of five; French became her primary language after she enrolled in a French Lebanese Catholic school at that age. Although Arabic was part of her early linguistic environment, Adnan later said that she wrote in French and English rather than Arabic. From 1945 to 1949, Adnan studied French literature at the École Supérieure des Lettres in Beirut, a predecessor to the later Saint Joseph University of Beirut's Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences. She then received a scholarship to study at the Sorbonne (then part of the University of Paris), where she earned a degree in philosophy. In 1955, she moved to the United States for postgraduate study in philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard University. From 1958 to 1972, she taught philosophy at Dominican College in San Rafael, California. Adnan returned from the US to Lebanon and worked as a journalist and cultural editor for Al Safa newspaper, a French-language newspaper in Beirut. In addition, she also helped build the cultural section of the newspaper, occasionally contributing cartoons and illustrations. Her tenure at Al Safa was most notable for her front-page editorials, commenting on the important political issues of the day. In her later years, Adnan began to openly identify as lesbian. She met her partner Simone Fattal in 1972 and the couple lived together until Adnan's death. The two of them worked together on The Post-Apollo Press which was founded by Fattal in 1982, and where Adnan was a vital contributor as an author and translator. Adnan lived in Paris and Sausalito, California. She died in Paris on 14 November 2021, at the age of 96. A documentary about Adnan's life by American filmmaker Marie Valentine Regan in collaboration with the artist, about "the last five years of her life", finished production in 2025.

The following is a selection of notable solo and group exhibitions. • 2012: documenta 13, Kassel, Germany. • 2014: Etel Adnan in All Her Dimensions, Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha, Qatar. • 2014: Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. • 2015: Sharjah Biennial 12: The Past, the Present, the Possible, Sharjah Art Foundation, United Arab Emirates. • 2016: The Weight of the World, Serpentine Galleries, London. • 2017: Sea and Fog, Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada. • 2018: New Work: Etel Adnan, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco. • 2019: Etel Adnan et les modernes, Mudam Luxembourg. • 2019: Etel Adnan: Each day is a whole world, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado. • 2020: The uprising of colors, Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon. • 2021: Etel Adnan: Light's New Measure, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. • 2022: Etel Adnan / Vincent van Gogh: Kleur als Taal, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam.

• Etel Adnan, Leporellos, Galerie Lelong & Co., 2020 • Etel Adnan, Estampes, Galerie Lelong & Co. 2019 • Simone Fattal, Etel Adnan, la peinture comme énergie pure, 2016 • Jean Fremon, Etel Adnan, être là. Galerie Lelong, 2015 *

Etel Adnan worked in poetry, literary activity, painting, design and creative and professional writing. Her work is associated with Hurufiyya movement. She was employed by Dominican University of California. She belonged to American Writers Against the Vietnam War. She worked at France.

Etel Adnan is recorded with the occupation draftsperson. Adnan worked at France. Recorded as having studied at University of Paris, Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley.