CHEIKHO, LUIGI. - Renowned Arabist and Jesuit. Born in Mardin, Turkey, on 4 February 1859; entered the Society of Jesus in 1874; died in Beirut on 7 December 1927.
In 1882 he began publication of *Fiori della letteratura*, a six-volume collection of selected Arabic writings, several of which went through as many as thirty editions. This series was also adopted by many Muslim schools. He founded the Oriental Library in Beirut, of which he was long-time director and which he enriched with some 3,000 Arabic manuscripts. In 1898 he launched the Arabic journal *al-Masriq*. In 1902 he became chancellor of the Oriental Faculty at Saint Joseph University in Beirut. His work was chiefly devoted to highlighting the importance of Christian Arabic literature, especially its poetic tradition.
Principal works: *Le christianisme et la littérature chrétienne en Arabie avant l'Islam* (2 vols., Beirut 1912–23); *Vingt traités théologiques d'auteurs arabes chrétiens, IXe–XIIIe siècles* (Beirut 1920, in Arabic). Guglielmo De Vries.