{{Short description|Somali writer and professor (born 1952)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox writer | name = Ahmed Ismail Samatar | image =Professor_Samatar.png | alt = | caption = | pseudonym = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1952}} | birth_place = Gabiley, British Somaliland (now Somaliland) | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Writer, professor, scholar | citizenship = Somalilander, American | alma_mater = University of Wisconsin–La Crosse <br />University of Denver | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | notableworks = | spouse = divorced | partner = | children = | relatives = Abdi Ismail Samatar | awards = | signature = | website = |module={{infobox person | child = yes | political_party = Hillaac }} }} '''Ahmed Ismail Samatar''' ({{langx|so|Axmed Ismaaciil Samatar}}, {{langx|ar|أحمد إسماعيل سمتر}}) is a Somali writer, professor and former dean of the ''Institute for Global Citizenship'' at Macalester College.<ref>{{cite web|author=Betsy Salvatore |url=http://www.macalester.edu/internationalstudies/samatar.html |title=Ahmed Samatar | International Studies | Macalester College |publisher=Macalester.edu |accessdate=2 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630060018/http://www.macalester.edu/internationalstudies/samatar.html |archivedate=30 June 2012 }}</ref> He is the editor of ''Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies'', and brother of Abdi Ismail Samatar, chair of the geography department at the University of Minnesota. Samatar joined the Peace, Unity, and Development Party, the ruling party of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland in June 2016. Samatar was widely touted as a possible candidate for Somaliland's 2022 presidential elections.<ref>{{cite web |author=Horn Cable TV |url=http://www.hctv.tv/?p=34530 |title=Professor Ahmed Ismail Samatar officially joins Kulmiye party |publisher=Horn Cable TV |accessdate=4 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160615025717/http://www.hctv.tv/?p=34530 |archive-date=15 June 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Biography== Ahmed Ismail Samatar was born and raised in the Gabiley District, situated in Somaliland. He is the brother of scholar and politician Abdi Ismail Samatar.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.xariiradnews.com/2012/08/maxaa-ka-taqaanaa-xubnaha-lagu-sheegay-qaswadayaasha-siyaasadda-soomaaliya-iyo-qabiilada-ay-kasoo-jeedaan/|title = Maxaa ka Taqaanaa Xubnaha Lagu Sheegay Qaswadayaasha Siyaasadda Soomaaliya iyo Qabiilada ay kasoo jeedaan|date = 21 August 2012|accessdate = 16 April 2015|website = |agency = Xariiradnews|archive-date = 16 April 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150416220629/http://www.xariiradnews.com/2012/08/maxaa-ka-taqaanaa-xubnaha-lagu-sheegay-qaswadayaasha-siyaasadda-soomaaliya-iyo-qabiilada-ay-kasoo-jeedaan/|url-status = dead}}</ref> His father Ismail Samatar Mohamed (Dheere) was a businessman and traditional elder, and his mother Haliimo Abdilaahi Kahin is the sister of the late coffee tycoon Mohamed Abdillahi Ogsadey.
Samatar began his early traditional Islamic schooling (mal'amad qur'an) while he was young. His first Qur'an teacher was Ma'alin Hassan Fahiye. In 1952, he was the first student enrolled in the first Gabiley Primary/intermediate school, where he finished his lower education. His middle and high schools were in Amoud Intermediate and Agricultural secondary school.
After finishing high school,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://gaafo.com/223816/invitation-to-a-public-talk-by-professor-ahmed-ismail-samatar-at-queen-mary-university-london/ |title=Gaafo.com - Invitation to a Public Talk by Professor Ahmed Ismail Samatar at Queen Mary University London |access-date=24 July 2013 |archive-date=7 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407065229/http://gaafo.com/223816/invitation-to-a-public-talk-by-professor-ahmed-ismail-samatar-at-queen-mary-university-london/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Samatar moved to Mogadishu, the capital city of the Somalia, where he was accepted as a radio broadcaster at Radio Mogadishu in the mid 60s. In the late 60s, Ahmed filled a vacancy at the BBC African service, although was still young. He served as a BBC broadcaster till the mid 70s when he made up his mind to get a higher education. He later moved from London to the United States.
Samatar has lectured at many universities and colleges, including Cornell, Harvard, Iowa, London School of Economics and Political Science, Somali National University, Toronto University, University of Amsterdam, York University, University of Otago, University of Hargeisa and Wellesley College. His expertise is in the areas of global political economy, political and social thought, and Somali affairs. He is the author/editor of five books and over thirty articles.
Additionally, Samatar is the founding editor-in-chief of ''Bildhaan'', one of the international journals of Somali Studies. He is also the editor of eighteen volumes of ''Macalester International'', a publication of undergraduate education and internationalism.<ref name="bepress1">{{cite web |url=http://works.bepress.com/ahmed_samatar/ |title=Ahmed Samatar | Macalester College | Global Political Economy, African Politics | James Wallace Professor, International Studies, Dean, Institute for Global Citizenship |publisher=Works.bepress.com |accessdate=2 August 2012 |archive-date=11 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811012817/http://works.bepress.com/ahmed_samatar/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
A Fulbright Fellow, Samatar has been awarded grants by the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the United States Institute of Peace, the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the St. Paul Foundation.
His current research is on two tracks: a collaborative two volumes on leadership and the Somali experience; and globalization and the rise of Islamic consciousness. Since 1994, Samatar has been teaching at Macalester College, where he is the James Wallace Professor and retired Dean of the Institute for Global Citizenship.
In mid-2012, Samatar ran for political office as one of the potential candidates in Somalia's 2012 presidential elections.<ref name="Spostpc">{{cite news|last=Mohamed|first=Mahmoud|title=Profiles of Somalia's top presidential candidates|url=http://sabahionline.com/en_GB/articles/hoa/articles/features/2012/08/17/feature-02|accessdate=21 August 2012|newspaper=Sabahi|date=17 August 2012}}</ref>
== Bibliography == {| class="wikitable" !Year !Title |- |1988 |Socialist Somalia: Rhetoric and Reality |- |1995 |Somalia: State Collapse, Multilateral Intervention, and Strategies for Political Reconstruction |- |1998 |Nature, People, and Globalization |- |2002 |The African state: reconsiderations |- |2003 |Prometheus's Bequest: Technology and Change |}
==Educational-background== * B.A. ''magna cum laude'', University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, 1978<ref name="bepress1" /> * M.A., University of Denver, 1981 * PhD, University of Denver, 1984<ref>{{cite web|author=Betsy Salvatore |url=http://www.macalester.edu/internationalstudies/faculty.html |title=International Studies Faculty |publisher=Macalester.edu |accessdate=2 August 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926111305/http://www.macalester.edu/internationalstudies/faculty.html |archivedate=26 September 2012 }}</ref>
==See also== * Somali Studies * Macalester College
==References== <references />
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070826173206/http://www.somalistudies.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=15 SSIA – Abdisalam Aato Interviews Dr. Ahmed I. Samatar] * [http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/bildhaan/ Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies | Institute for Global Citizenship | Macalester College]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Samatar, Ahmed Ismail}} Category:Somalian writers Category:Somalian non-fiction writers Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Somalian scholars Category:Macalester College faculty Category:University of Denver alumni Category:American people of Somali descent Category:People from Maroodi Jeex Category:Gadabuursi