São Paulo – One of Brazil’s foremost geographers, Aziz Nacib Ab’Saber, of Lebanese origin, passed away this Friday morning (16th), at 87 years of age, in Cotia, in the Greater São Paulo Area. Ab’Saber was an emeritus professor at the Geography Department of the School of Philosophy, Language and Human Sciences (FFLCH) of the University of São Paulo (USP) and a promoter of Arab culture. Ab’Saber’s work in geomorphology, i.e. the study of landforms, was prominent in Brazil and abroad.
The cause of death has not been disclosed. The scholar died at 10:20 am at his house, and the wake will start at 7:00 pm this Friday in the Noble Hall (Salão Nobre) of FFLCH, at Rua do Lago, 717, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, according to information disclosed by the university. The burial will be held Saturday (17th) at 11:00 am at Cemitério da Paz, on Rua Doutor Luiz Migliano, 644, Morumbi, São Paulo.
Ab’Saber was born in São Luiz do Paraitinga and grew up in Caçapava, both in the interior of the state of São Paulo, but moved alone to the state capital as an adolescent to join the USP, an institution to which he was linked throughout his entire career. His father was a travelling salesman who came from Lebanon and sold his products in coffee farms. During his travels, he met his wife, Justina, with whom he had three children.
Early on in his career, Ab’Saber made field trips to several regions of Brazil and helped set the geomorphological standards which are now taught in the country’s schools. Aside from being an emeritus professor at FFLCH, he was a honorary professor at the USP’s Institute of Advanced Studies, honourable president of the Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science (SBPC), of which he was also president, and honourable president of the Institute of Arab Culture (Icarabe).
Ab’Saber received several prizes. In 1997 and 2005 he won the Jabuti Prize in the Human Sciences category, and in 2007 he won in the Exact Sciences category. In 1999 he was awarded the Admiral Álvaro Alberto Science and Technology Prize, of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and in 2001 he received the Prize for Science and Environment of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco).
He published nearly 500 works, including academic articles, theses, book chapters, prefaces and introductions, reviews, newspaper articles, magazine articles, documents, reports and others. His most important writings are compiled into the book “The Work of Aziz Nacib Ab’Sáber,” released in May 2011 by publishing house Beca. Last year he was voted Intellectual of the Year by the Brazilian Writers Union.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
