17 Facts About Titus Burckhardt

Titus Burckhardt was the author of numerous works on metaphysics, cosmology, anthropology, esoterism, alchemy, Sufism, symbolism and sacred art.

Scion of a patrician family of Basel, Switzerland, Titus Burckhardt was the son of the sculptor Carl Burckhardt and the grand-nephew of Jacob Burckhardt, an art historian and Renaissance specialist.

Titus Burckhardt was born in Florence, Italy, on October 24,1908.

Titus Burckhardt attended the same primary school as Frithjof Schuon, who became a lifelong friend.

Around 1927, Burckhardt began studying painting, sculpture and art history in Munich and Paris.

Titus Burckhardt was captivated by this sojourn, which marked the beginning of his spiritual quest.

In early 1933, Titus Burckhardt returned to Morocco in search of a spiritual master.

Titus Burckhardt converted to Islam and learned Arabic, enabling him to assimilate the Sufi classics in their original language.

Titus Burckhardt was initiated by the Sheikh and received into the Tariqa Darqawiya.

Parallel with this, he took up an apprenticeship in zellij tile-making with a master craftsman from Fez, who urged him to memorize the Alfiyya of Ibn Malik, a didactic poem of a thousand verses which sets out all the rules of Arabic grammar; Titus Burckhardt remained ever grateful to him for this.

Titus Burckhardt soon realized that his predestined guide was none other than his childhood friend.

From 1936 to 1938 Titus Burckhardt studied art history and Oriental languages at the University of Basel.

Titus Burckhardt's working languages were German, French, Arabic, Latin, English and Italian.

The quality of Urs Graf's publications brought it a worldwide reputation in its domain, and in October 1950, in a private audience, Titus Burckhardt presented Pope Pius XII with a quadrichromic facsimile in three volumes of the celebrated Book of Kells, a gospel in the Celtic tradition dating from 800 AD, published by his company.

Morocco having recovered its independence in 1956, Titus Burckhardt returned there regularly from 1960.

Titus Burckhardt was regularly invited as a specialist on traditional art and urbanism to give lectures, in both the Orient and the West, and to host or participate in seminars.

In 1981, despite a debilitating neuropathy, Titus Burckhardt went for the last time to Fez as guest of honour at the inauguration by the Director-General of UNESCO of the international campaign for the conservation of the medina.