About
Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Hammo Al-Hamza
Professor of Mathematics, Historian of Science · Researcher in Russian Orientalism · Political Expert
Forty years of university teaching and research: mathematics, its history and philosophy, the Arabic sciences of the Middle Ages and Russian Orientalism.
Author of 11 university books and more than 70 research papers; speaker at over 80 international conferences.
Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Hammo Al-Hamza was born in Al-Hasakah, Syria, in 1954. He studied mathematics at the Peoples' Friendship University in Moscow, where he received his Ph.D in 1985, specialising in functional analysis. He taught at universities in Syria, Libya and Yemen, and later became a senior researcher at the Institute for the History of Science and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
His research covers the history of medieval Arabic mathematics, the philosophy of mathematics and its Arabic terminology, as well as the history of Russian Orientalism and scholarly Arabic studies in Russia. Since 2009 he has served as a political expert at the Embassy of the State of Qatar to the Russian Federation.
🎓Education
- 1974–1980 BSc and MSc in Mathematics, Faculty of Science — Peoples' Friendship University, Moscow
- 1981–1985 Ph.D in Mathematics, Faculty of Science — Peoples' Friendship University, Moscow
- 1985 Diploma in Russian–Arabic translation, Moscow
- 2001 Full Professor
- 2002–2016 Senior Researcher at the Institute for the History of Science and Technology, Russian Academy of Sciences
📚Academic experience
- 1985–1987 Lecturer in mathematics, Faculties of Science, Civil and Electrical Engineering — Tishreen University, Latakia (Syria)
- 1989–1995 Mathematics and history of mathematics — Faculty of Science, University of Misrata (Libya)
- 1996–2002 Mathematics and history of mathematics — Faculties of Science and Education, Taiz University (Yemen)
- 2002–2016 Research in Orientalism and the history of medieval Arabic mathematics — Institute for the History of Science and Technology, Russian Academy of Sciences
🔬Academic activity
- 1997–2000 Head of the Mathematics Department, Faculty of Science — Taiz University
- Supervision of MSc theses; examiner of MSc and PhD dissertations
- Popular-science articles on mathematics and its history in Arab and foreign press
- Member of learned societies for the history of science in Syria, Jordan, France and Russia
- 2012 Member of the Syrian Writers' Association
- Editorial board member, International Institute for Security and Strategic Studies (GSSI), Türkiye
- 2023 Nominated for membership of the International Academy of the History of Science
- 2023 Invited contributor to the Arabic encyclopaedia «Arabica» — Doha
- 2009 One-month research grant at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Paris — history of Arabic and Islamic mathematics
- 2025 Chair of the scientific committee, International Conference on Orientalism — Doha, 26–27 April
✍️Writing, translation and peer review
- Author of 11 university books on mathematics, the history of mathematics and Orientalism, including two dictionaries of mathematical terms (Russian–Arabic and English–Arabic)
- More than 70 research papers on mathematics, its history, philosophy and Arabic terminology, in Russian, Arabic and English
- Participation in more than 80 international scientific conferences worldwide
- 2022 Peer review of «Mathematics as a Craft of the Mind» — Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies
- 2022 Peer review of «The Ukrainian War and the Future of the World Order» — Al Jazeera Centre for Studies, Doha
🏛Embassy of the State of Qatar in Russia
- 2009 — Political expert at the Embassy of the State of Qatar to the Russian Federation
- Hundreds of analytical political reports and dozens of policy studies on Russian–Arab and Russian–Qatari relations
- Chief interpreter of the embassy for many years
- 2010 Interpreter for HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani during his visit to Russia
- 2016 Interpreter for HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, during his visit to Russia
- 2017 Interpreter for HE Dr Khalid Al-Attiyah, Minister of State for Defence Affairs, in talks with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu
🗳Political experience
- 2011–2012 Member of the Syrian National Council and its representative to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; took part in most Syrian opposition delegations to Moscow
- 2014–2015 Chairman of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change
- Political expert on Russian–Arab relations; author and translator of dozens of political studies and articles
🌐Languages
- Arabic — native
- Russian — excellent
- English — good
- French — intermediate