Mahdi al-Juburi
1928–2015 · al-Rumaytha & Baghdad
Mahdi Muhammad Salih al-Juburi was born in 1928 in al-Rumaytha, near Samawah in southern Iraq. He studied with Hashim Muhammad al-Baghdadi and, according to al-Gardenia, also with the Turkish master Hamid Aytaç (al-Amidi), and he was counted among the keepers of the Baghdad rules of the scripts. He worked at the General Survey Directorate, the office where al-Baghdadi also worked, and in 1954 opened Dar al-Khatt al-Arabi, a bookshop and studio in Baghdad that became a meeting place for calligraphers. He wrote the lettering of Iraqi banknotes, the identity card of Abd al-Karim Qasim and the inscriptions of the new building of the Gilani mosque. In 1974 he was among the founders of the Iraqi Calligraphers Association. His students include Taha al-Bustani and Rawdhan Bahiya, who later led that association. He died in al-Yarmuk Hospital in Baghdad in November 2015 at 87; Arabic Wikipedia gives 16 November, al-Gardenia 17 November.
Achievements
- Founded the Dar al-Khatt al-Arabi bookshop and studio in Baghdad in 1954.
- Wrote the lettering of Iraqi banknotes in circulation.
- Lettered the personal identity card of Abd al-Karim Qasim.
- Wrote inscriptions for the new building of the Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani mosque in Baghdad.
- One of the founders of the Iraqi Calligraphers Association in 1974.
- Honoured by the Iraqi Calligraphers Association (1999) and the Ministry of Culture (2013).
Taught by: Hashem al-Baghdadi, Hamid Aytaç
Taught: Taha Al Bustani, Rawdhan Bahiya, Hamid al-Saadi, Amin Ali, Ahmad Faris al-Umari
His work
He died in 2015, so his calligraphy is still under copyright and no works can be shown.
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
Open Mashq Studio →Living calligraphers you can buy from — signed originals on paper, from AED 550: Anwar Alhulwani (Thuluth) · Ahmed Alhawary (Jali Thuluth, Naskh) · Rasha Kasim (Kufi).
Sources
- Arabic Wikipedia: birth, Dar al-Khatt 1954, association 1974, currency, students, death ar.wikipedia.org
- al-Gardenia obituary: teachers, students, survey office, honours, death 17 Nov 2015 algardenia.com
- al-Mada (cited by Arabic Wikipedia) almadapaper.net
Written by the MASHQ studio · last updated 2026-10-05. Further reading, the standard references in English: Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh University Press, 2006) · Annemarie Schimmel, Calligraphy and Islamic Culture (New York University Press, 1984) · Yasin Hamid Safadi, Islamic Calligraphy (Thames and Hudson, 1978).