Nicola Ziadeh

After the occupation of Palestine, Nicolas immigrated to Lebanon, where he joined the American University in Beirut. He was appointed as an assistant professor, then he was appointed as a professor in 1958. He continued teaching there until 1973. After reaching fifty-five he retired from the American University, and supervised at Saint Joseph University – Beirut on doctoral thesis in Arab history, until 1992. He also taught at the University of Jordan for two years (1976–1978). Then he returned to Beirut working at the Lebanese University as a lecturer and supervisor.

In 1947, he traveled to the University of London again to prepare for a doctorate, and his interest had moved from classical history to Islamic history. During this period, he wrote a number of articles in the excerpt, culture and others, dealing with various aspects of Arab history. Nicola spent two years in London preparing his doctorate on "Syria in the First Mamluk Era,". In 1950 he presented the thesis and received his doctorate.

Nicola returned to Palestine in the summer of 1939, weeks before the start of World War II, and during the eight years following his return, he taught ancient history and Arab history at the Arab College (Jerusalem). His first book was published in 1943 CE entitled "Pioneers of the Eastern Arabs in the Middle Ages" (original text: rwwad alshrq alearabii fi aleusur alwustaa). In those years he also tried to transfer some of what he had learned in the West to his students through his lectures and books.

In 1935, he was chosen for a mission to study ancient history at the University of London, and this was a fulfillment of his hopes. He spent nearly 4 years in Europe, of which about 6 months were at the University of Munich in Germany. The university imposed on the student to learn two European languages other than English, so he chose to learn German and old French. He was able to obtain a bachelor's degree in 1939.

Nicola graduated from the "Dar Al-muealimin" after three years and worked for several weeks in the Nazareth School (at the time he was 16 years old). Then he moved to work as a teacher in Tarshiha (Acre District) and worked there for one year, after which he joined Acre school in Acre in 1925. Despite the fact that his inclination to teach mathematics he was assigned to teach history and geography. This decision had an impact on his life, as he liked the subject of history. He read books on history and was also acquainted with some excavation missions for foreign antiquities in Palestine that were excavating in Acre and Baysan. He was keen to visit many archaeological sites in Palestine, and at the beginning of his life and considered himself a "historian under training". In 1930, he published an article in the "Al-Muqtatif Magazine" about the Battle of Megiddo.

In 1917 after his father's death, his family returned to Nazareth, where he lived with his uncle, who took care of them. Then his uncle was killed by a bomb thrown by a British plane, so his mother was forced to search for work to support the family. she found work in Jenin, so the family moved to live there. Nicola did not attend any school in Jenin for two years because there was no school there, as the German army took over the only school in the town. He made it up by reading and self-education, so he read many books that he borrowed from his neighbor, such as the Taghribat Bani Hilal, the biography of Saif ibn Dhi Yazan, and One Thousand and One Nights. In 1919 a public school was opened, so Nicola enrolled in it. In 1921, he was accepted to study at the "Dar Al-muealimin" in Jerusalem.

Nicola Ziadeh (Arabic:نقولا زيادة) (2 December 1907 – 27 July 2006) was historian and author of Palestinian origin, Lebanese nationality, born in Syria.