Benghazi— Libya’s scholar and thinker Najib Al-Hassadi died on Thursday 3 July 2025 at 72. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in May. Al-Hassadi’s son said on his Facebook that he passed away in Jordan where he was receiving treatment and he would be buried in Benghazi.
A renowned thinker and scholar, Al-Hassadi studied philosophy throughout his life. He contributed to the field as a professor of philosophy at Libyan and Arab universities who published extensively and became one of the most influential authors on the subject in the Arab world.
Libyan officials, colleagues, students, international organizations as well as foreign diplomats in Libya have extensively eulogized Mr. Al-Hassadi. He believed in dialogue and reconciliation among Libyans as an unavoidable strategic option to end the ongoing crisis in Libya and called on conflicting parties to make concessions to pave the way toward a unified nation.
He authored more than 20 books on philosophy and translated into Arabic more than 25 philosophical works, an important contribution to students of philosophy in Arab universities. He received the Libyan “State Appreciation Award for Academic Studies” in 2009.
Al-Hassadi contributed to shaping the cultural vision for Libya’s future through his role on the Libya Vision 2025 and 2040 committees, and served as an advisor on transitional justice and national reconciliation projects.
Al-Hassadi was born in the city of Derna in 1952 and graduated from the Department of Philosophy at Gar Younis (Benghazi) University in 1973. He obtained a Master’s Degree from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C, USA 1977; a Master’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin– Madison, 1979; and a Ph. D. in Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin– Madison, 1982. His doctoral dissertation was titled “Scientific Rationality: A Critique of Thomas Kuhn’s Account of Science”.
Al Hassadi chaired the Department of Philosophy at the Gar Younis University in Benghazi in the 1990s, and the chair of the Department of Philosophy, United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, UAE 2001-2005. He also chaired the Graduate Studies Committee, College of Human Sciences, Al Ain, UAE 2002-2004. Head of the National Translation Centre, Benghazi, Libya from 2013 until his death.