Ilyās Farhāt

Ilyās Farhāt (1893- 1976) was a Lebanese poet who lived and wrote in Latin America.

Ilyās Farhāt was born to a poor family in Kafarshima, Lebanon in 1893. Though he hardly completed elementary education and went to work at an early age, he started writing folk poetry in colloquial Lebanese Arabic. In 1910, he emigrated to join his brothers in Brazil, where he tried to earn a living as a travelling salesman. He subsequently wrote formal poetry, gaining recognition for his first collection in 1925.