René Guénon, French-Egyptian philosopher and author (b. 1886)
René Jean-Marie-Joseph Guénon (15 November 1886 – 7 January 1951) was a French intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics having written on topics ranging from "sacred science" and "traditional studies" to symbolism and initiation.
In his writings, he proposes either "to expose directly some aspects of Eastern metaphysical doctrines", these doctrines being defined by him as of "universal character", or "to adapt these same doctrines for Western readers while keeping strictly faithful to their spirit"; he only endorsed the act of "handing down" these Eastern doctrines, while reiterating their "non-human character".
Initiated into Sufism from as early as 1910 when he was 24, he used his Sufi name of Abdel Wâhed Yahiâ (Arabic ʿAbd al-Wāḥid Yaḥyá عبد الـوٰاحد يحيیٰ) publicly from 1930 onward.
He mainly wrote and published in French, and his works have been translated into more than twenty languages. Later on he perfected his Arabic and from 1931 onwards wrote articles in that language for the journal Al Marifah, while outside French and Arabic he had command over Latin, Greek, Hebrew, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Polish, able to talk with native speakers in these tongues. He is considered to be an important writer in the Traditionalist School of philosophy. Guénon's philosophy had a "charismatic impact" on Traditionalist authors.