The Unfaithful Husband
By James Sanua (Ya`qub Sanua)
Translation by Marvin Carlson and Stefano Boselli
Arab Stages, Volume 8 (Spring, 2018)
©2018 by Martin E. Segal Theatre Center Publications
Translators’ Notes
Defined as “the father of the modern Egyptian theatre,”[1] James Sanua – also known as Yaʿqūb Ṣannūʿ and later Abou Naddara, the man with the glasses, as a satirical journalist – was born in Cairo on February 9, 1839. He was the last child of Sarah, an Egyptian Jewish woman, and Raphael Sanua, an immigrant Italian Jew from Leghorn who had become an adviser to Prince Ahmad Pasha Yeken. Because of his multicultural upbringing, by the time James was twelve he spoke Arabic, Hebrew, Italian, French, and English.[2] Between 1852 and 1855 Sanua was sent to Leghorn to continue his studies at the Prince’s expense.
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