Ali Ahmad Said Esber, known by his pseudonym Adonis (January 1, 1930), is a Syrian-Lebanese-French poet, critic, academic, and thinker. He was born in the village of Qassabin, near Jableh, Syria. He adopted the name Adonis (after the Phoenician legend of Adonis), breaking with Arabic naming conventions in 1948. He and his family obtained Lebanese citizenship in 1963.
He has been repeatedly invited as a visiting professor to universities and research centers in France, Switzerland, the United States, and Germany. He has received several international awards and honors, and his works have been translated into thirteen languages. He is a member of the advisory board of the “Kutab” newspaper project.