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René Guénon

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René Guénon

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Also known as Rene Guenon, Rene Jean Marie Joseph Guenon, René-Jean-Marie-Joseph Guénon, René Jean Marie Joseph Guénon

French metaphysician (1886-1951)

OverviewAI-generated

René Guénon (1886–1951) was a French and Egyptian writer, philosopher, and orientalist. Born in Blois, France, he was educated at the University of Paris and held the position of full professor. His fields of work included philosophy and metaphysics, and he was associated with mysticism. Guénon received the Concours général award and later adopted the pseudonyms Abdel Wahed Yahia and Sheikh Abdel Wahed Yahia. He practiced Islam and died in Cairo, where he is also buried.

Among his published works are *L'erreur spirite*, *Initiation et réalisation spirituelle*, *La métaphysique orientale*, *El Esoterismo de Dante*, and *Man and his becoming, according to the Vedanta*.

Synthesized by Vinony from 31 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
1886
Died
1951
Works
223

Top works

  • L'erreur spirite
  • Initiation et réalisation spirituelle
  • La métaphysique orientale
  • El Esoterismo de Dante
  • Man and his becoming, according to the Vedanta

via Open Library + Wikidata

Key facts

Born
René-Jean-Marie-Joseph Guénon , ( 1886-11-15 ) 15 November 1886, Blois , Loir-et-Cher , France
Died
7 January 1951 (1951-01-07) (aged 64), Cairo , Egypt
Other name
Abdalwahid Yahia
Spouse
Fatima ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1934 ) ​
Era
20th-century philosophy
Region
French philosophy Islamic philosophy Hindu philosophy
School
Orientalism Advaita Vedanta Sufism Nondualism Platonism Traditionalism
Main interests
Metaphysics Symbology Mythology Esoterism Gnosticism History Freemasonry Mathematics Social criticism
Notable ideas
Unity of metaphysics Critique of modernity from the perspective of ancient wisdom traditions Refounding Western esotericism using Eastern ideas Guénonian metaphysics

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
René
Gender
male
Citizenship
Egypt
Place of birth
Blois
Place of death
Cairo
Occupation
orientalist
Languages spoken
French
Religion
Islam
Field of work
metaphysics
Image
Rene-guenon-1925 (cropped).jpg
Show 7 more facts
date of birth
1886-11-15
date of death
1951-01-07
Commons category
René Guénon
lifestyle
mysticism
name in native language
René Guénon
pseudonym
Sheikh Abdel Wahed Yahia
place of burial
Cairo
Sources (7)

via Wikidata · CC0

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

René Jean-Marie-Joseph Guénon (15 November 1886 – 7 January 1951), also known as Abdalwahid Yahia (Arabic: عبد الـواحد يحيی; ʿAbd al-Wāḥid Yaḥiā), was a French-Egyptian intellectual who wrote on topics ranging from esotericism, "sacred science" and "traditional studies" to symbolism and initiation.

In his writings, Guénon proposes to hand down eastern metaphysics and traditions, these doctrines being defined by him as of "universal character", and adapt them to western readers "while keeping strictly faithful to their spirit".

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “René Guénon” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (12)