Bassam Chebaro. In 2015, his publishing house, Arab Scientific Publishers, received a Sheikh Zayed Book Award in the Publishing and Technology category. Image: Lina Chebaro
By Hannah Johnson | @hannahsjohnson
‘Persistence, Honesty, and Dedication’
The late Bassam Chebaro, an honored figure in the Arab publishing industry and the founder of Lebanon-based Arab Scientific Publishers, is to be recognized posthumously with an appreciation award at the Sharjah Publishers Conference on Sunday (November 3).
Having died in August at age 81, Chebaro is remembered by many in the book business for his dedication to his family publishing business and for developing cultural exchange through literature.
His daughter, Lina Chebaro—who has taken on the role of director of Arab Scientific Publishers—will accept the award in Sharjah.
Publishing Perspectives spoke with Chebaro about her father, his career, and her plans to continue his publishing vision.
A Resilient, International Career Path
Bassam Chebaro began working in publishing in 1973, amid the challenging conditions of Lebanon’s civil unrest. By 1986, he had established Arab Scientific Publishers, initially focusing on technological literature and then expanding to a wide variety of Arabic and translated literature.
The company would go on to win the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Center‘s Sheikh Zayed Book Award in 2015 in the Publishing and Technology Category. In the rationale for that honor from the Zayed Award, it was said that Chebaro’s company “continued, ever since it was established 30 years ago, to work within the framework of a cultural project, which is keen on publishing scientific, intellectual, and creative works contributing to the movement of enlightenment, and aiming at raising Arab consciousness by this kind of publishing.”
Recalling “his willingness to take risks” for his publishing business, Lina Chebaro says that her father “used to travel by car from Lebanon to Iraq and Saudi Arabia while the bullets [were] firing all around him, because Lebanon was in a civil war at that time.”
Bassam Chebaro’s vision extended beyond national borders. This, his daughter says, led him to work with “publishers around the world, to translate from all languages into Arabic, to get cultures closer to each through their books.”
His presence at global book fairs and his reputation for honesty, Lina Chebaro says, were central to Arab Scientific Publishers’ expansion.
“He built strong relationships with publishers worldwide,” she says, “and was renowned for his honesty and infectious smile.”
She notes that his ability to identify promising literary works was said to be pivotal. Chebaro remembers her father saying, “I can feel and smell a successful book.”
Carrying Forward the Legacy
Lina Chebaro
As director of Arab Scientific Publishers, Lina Chebaro says she’s focused on sustaining and expanding her father’s vision for the company. She looks forward to building on existing international relationships, exploring new markets—which “could involve venturing into new genres or languages”—and embracing digital advancements including ebooks and audiobooks.
Chebaro attributes her father’s success to “his persistence, honesty, and dedication”—qualities she says she wants to embody as she takes the company forward.
“Continuing to support local authors and promoting Arabic literature,” she says, “can help strengthen the literary scene in the Arab world.””
And most of all, she says, she’s working “to ensure that Arab Scientific Publishers continues to thrive and contribute to the publishing industry for many years to come, while continuing the Chebaro family legacy in publishing.”
More from Publishing Perspectives on Sharjah Book Authority is here, more on Sharjah International Book Fair is here, more on the Sheikh Zayed Book Award is here, and more on Lebanon is here.
Publishing Perspectives is the world media partner for the Sheikh Zayed Book Award.