Dr. Khalid El Beltagi is a leading Egyptian scholar, translator, and Associate Professor of Czech Language and Literature at Ain Shams University, Faculty of Al-Alsun (Languages), Cairo.
With a distinguished academic career spanning over three decades, he has significantly contributed to introducing Czech and Slovak literature to the Arab world through his translations and research on linguistics and cross-cultural exchange.
His Arabic translations of major Central European authors—such as Milan Kundera, Václav Havel, Bohumil Hrabal, and Bianca Bellová—have played a pivotal role in bridging literary cultures between Europe and the Middle East.
Education
Ph.D. in Czech Linguistics, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic (1997)
Dissertation: Verbal Aspect in Czech and Arabic: A Comparative Study
M.A. in Translation and Interpretation, Ain Shams University, Cairo (1992)
B.A. in Czech Language and Literature, Ain Shams University, Cairo (1988)
Selected Publications & Conference Papers
- Temporal Aspects of Verbal Aspect in Czech and Arabic – University of Ústí nad Labem Conference (1999)
- Semantic Fields in Czech and Arabic – Hradec Králové Conference (2007)
- Translation Between Cultural Exchange and Identity – Cairo Conference on Literature and Translation (2009)
- Arabic Language and the Challenges of the 21st Century – University of West Bohemia, Plzeň (2008)
Selected Translations into Arabic From Czech:
- Immortality – Milan Kundera (National Center for Translation, 2003)
- The Power of the Powerless – Václav Havel (Al Arabi Publishing, 2012; reissued by Sefsafa, 2018)
- Europeana – Patrik Ouředník (Al Arabi Publishing, 2014)
- Guardians of Civic Virtue – Petra Hůlová (Al Arabi Publishing, 2015)
- The Lake – Bianca Bellová (Sefsafa Publishing, 2018)
- Dita Saxová – Arnošt Lustig (Sefsafa Publishing, 2019)
- A Love Letter Written in Cuneiform – Tomáš Zmeškal (Sefsafa Publishing, 2019)
- I Served the King of England (Obsluhoval jsem anglického krále) – Bohumil Hrabal (Sefsafa Publishing, 2020)
- Death Drive (Smrtkolka) – Lucie Faulerová (Sefsafa Publishing, 2022)
From Slovak:
- The Fifth Boat – Monika Kompaníková (Sefsafa Publishing, 2014)
- Bellevue – Ivana Dobrakovová (Al Turjumán Publishing, 2021)
- Mothers and Truckers – Ivana Dobrakovová (Sefsafa Publishing, 2022)
Academic and Cultural Activities
- Former postdoctoral researcher at Comenius University, Bratislava (2017): conducted a comparative study on women’s writing in Czech, Slovak, and Arabic literature.
- Regular participant in international conferences on translation studies and Czech literature.
- Contributor to cultural exchange programs between Egypt and Central Europe, focusing on modern Czech and Slovak prose in Arabic translation.