Yasser Badreddine
1942– · Nabatieh
Yasser Sobhi Badreddine is a Lebanese poet and calligrapher, born in Nabatieh in South Lebanon in 1942. His father introduced him to classical poetry, and he took to calligraphy as a boy: by fourteen, local merchants were ordering their shop signs from him, and he learned the trade by studying the city's signs and talking with sellers of paints and brushes. He studied law at Beirut Arab University, worked as a head of department at the Lebanese parliament, and published poetry, while his first steady work as a calligrapher led him to perfect the ruq'a, naskh, Farisi, thuluth and diwani hands. In Beirut he knew established masters, among them Kamel al-Baba. From 1972, encouraged by the writer Dr. Dahesh, he began writing out his own poems and Qur'anic verses, adding illumination and working on parchment and leather. Two of his calligraphed poetry books won the graphic design prize at the Beirut Arab Book Fair. He settled in Montreal in 1990, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization showed and acquired his work.
Achievements
- Painted shop signs for the merchants of Nabatieh from the age of fourteen.
- Worked in the ruq'a, naskh, Farisi, thuluth and diwani hands, and in a modern free Kufic.
- Won first prize for graphic design at the Beirut International Arab Book Fair for his calligraphed poetry books Sara (1997) and Daftar al-ghurba (1999).
- Shown in The Lands within Me, an exhibition of Canadian artists of Arab origin at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, which acquired some of his calligraphy.
His work
He is living, so his calligraphy is protected by copyright and no works are shown.
Write in the tradition this hand shaped.
Write in this tradition now →Living calligraphers you can buy from — signed originals on paper, from AED 550: Anwar Alhulwani (Thuluth) · Ahmed Alhawary (Jali Thuluth, Naskh) · Rasha Kasim (Kufi) — or every Ruq'ah piece the store makes: Ruq'ah collection.
Sources
- Canadian Museum of Civilization, The Lands within Me (artists' biographies): calligraphy career, scripts, prizes, Montreal 1990 web.archive.org
- Arabic Wikipedia: birth 1942 in Nabatieh, law degree, parliament post, poetry books ar.wikipedia.org
- French Wikipedia: poet and calligrapher fr.wikipedia.org
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).