Navid Kermani (; ; ; born 27 November 1967 in Siegen) is a German writer and orientalist. He is the author of several novels as well as books and essays on Islam, the Middle East and Christian-Muslim dialogue. He has won numerous prizes for his literary and academic work, including the Peace Prize of the German Publishers' Association on 18 June 2015.
Family and personal life Kermani was born in Siegen as the fourth son of Iranian parents who immigrated to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1959. A medical doctor, his father worked at the Catholic St. Mary's Hospital in Siegen.Die Zeit. 15 December 2017: "Trauerrede. Abschied von unserem Vater, von Navid Kermani". retrieved 10 March 2026. Kermani's three older brothers are also practicing physicians.Navid Kermani im Munzinger-Archiv, retrieved 4 November 2021 (Artikelanfang frei abrufbar) Navid Kermani has both German and Iranian citizenship. He grew up in the historically Protestant city of Siegen, where he attended the academic high schools Fürst-Johann-Moritz-Gymnasium and Gymnasium am Rosterberg (later renamed Peter-Paul-Rubens-Gymnasium).Bücher Befördern Gedanken in durchblick 04/2015, S. 52, retrieved 15 January 2017 (PDF) After graduating from high school, Kermani interned with Roberto Ciulli at the theater Theater an der Ruhr in the city of Mülheim before moving to Cologne in 1988 to pursue university studies. Until 2020, Kermani was married to Islamic studies scholar Katajun Amirpur; they are the parents of two daughters."Montags-Interview: ‚Ich dachte: Jetzt erst recht, Die Tageszeitung, 4 March 2012, retrieved 13 March 2026. Kermani has been a fan of the soccer club 1. FC KölnKölner Stadt-Anzeiger Köln 24 August 2025: 100 Ideen für Köln.Navid Kermani wünscht sich das „Theater der Welt"-Festival nach Köln, retrieved 13 March 2026. since 1971.
Scholarly career Kermani majored in Middle Eastern languages and literature, with minors in philosophy and theater studies, at the University of Cologne, Cairo University, and the University of Bonn. During his semester breaks, he worked as an assistant director and later as a dramaturge at the municipal theaters Schauspiel Frankfurt and Theater an der Ruhr. Kermani wrote his master's thesis in 1993 at the University of Bonn (supervisors: Stefan Wild and Monika Gronke) on the persecuted Egyptian Koranic scholar Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid, whom he later met in Cairo and who had a formative impact on Kermani's approach to religious studies.Zeit online 15 July 2010: Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid. Der Feind der Eiferer, von Navid Kermani, retrieved 16 February 2026. With the support of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, Kermani wrote a dissertation entitled Gott ist schön (God is Beautiful),Navid Kermani: Gott ist schön. Das ästhetische Erleben des Koran. Beck, München 1999, ISBN 3-406-44954-9. (). again under the supervision of Arabist Stefan Wild and Iranian studies scholar Monika Gronke. Kermani received his doctorate in Middle Eastern languages and literature at the University of Bonn in 1998. In 2006, he completed his postdoctoral dissertation entitled The Terror of God – Attar, Job, and the Metaphysical Revolt.Sehepunkte 6 (2006), Nr. 12: Navid Kermani: Der Schrecken Gottes, von Stephan Conermann, retrieved 21 May 2026. From 2000 to 2003, Kermani held a long-term fellowship at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin (Institute for Advanced Studies Berlin), where he headed the Modernity and Islam working group. He initiated several international research projects, including the project Jewish and Islamic Hermeneutics as Cultural Criticism. This gave rise to a proposal for a Jewish-Islamic academy in Berlin.Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels: Friedenspreis 2015Navid Kermani, retrieved 16 February 2026.Die Welt Kultur Literatur 8 March 2017: "Bürgerpreisträger 2017: Navid Kermani, der wahre Patriot unserer Demokratie". Die Welt. retrieved 16 February 2026. In 2002, Kermani had his debut as an independent author with the book Die von Neil Young Getöteten [Those Killed by Neil Young]. In 2003, Kermani left the Wissenschaftskolleg to return to Cologne, where he has since been living as a freelance writer. He resides in the Eigelstein district, not far from Ebertplatz.Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Köln 19 March 2025: Interview Navid Kermani "Diese Lieblosigkeit kenne ich nur von Köln", von Joachim Frank , retrieved 19 March 2025. The original idea for the Akademie der Künste der Welt (Academy of the Arts of the World), which opened in Cologne on October 27, 2012, was conceived in 2007 by Kermani, together with Bernd M. Scherer, director of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures) in Berlin. Akademie der Künste der Welt Köln, retrieved 30 December 2012.
Journalism and literary career At the age of fifteen, while still in high school, Kermani began to work as a freelancer for the local editorial office of the regional daily newspaper Westfälische Rundschau.Milena G. Klipingat: "Navid Kermani. Schriftsteller, Orientalist und Kölner Weltbürger". Goethe-Institut, 2014. During his university studies, he wrote for national German newspapers, working as a regular contributor to the arts and culture section of the daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung from 1996 to 2000. Since 2006, Kermani has been co-hosting the Literarischer Salon [Literary Salon] in Cologne's Stadtgarten with fellow writer Guy Helminger.Der Literarische Salon, retrieved 16 February 2026. Kermani spent 2008 as a Villa Massimo fellow in Rome.Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo: Villa Massimo 2008, retrieved 16 February 2026. Beginning in 2012, he co-directed the "Herzzentrum" ["Heart Center"] at Hamburg's Thalia Theater together with dramaturge Carl Hegemann.Thalia Theater: Herzzentrum XIII, retrieved 16 February 2026.18 June 2013: "In den Wind gesprochen, von Heinrich Oehmsen". Die Welt. retrieved 16 February 2026. Kermani's literary work thematizes the human experience of extremes in everyday life, music, art, sexuality and in the face of death. His novels and essayistic books straddle the boundaries between autobiography and fiction, while his academic writings focus on the aesthetics of the Koran and Islamic mysticism.Navid Kermani: Gott ist schön. Das ästhetische Erleben des Koran. 1999 und Navid Kermani: Attar, Hiob und die metaphysische Revolte. 2005.
Kermani is also well known as a journalist who reports from crisis areas around the world. In September 2014, he reported from Iraq for the news magazine Der Spiegel.Der Spiegel: "Navid Kermani über seine Irak-Reise: 'Was hier passiert, ist vergleichbar mit dem ersten Weltkrieg .In: Spiegel Online. 24 September 2014. In October 2015, he traveled in the direction of the refugees to meet them on their route in the opposite direction, from Budapest to Turkey. Many of his reports, which he wrote primarily for the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the news magazine Der Spiegel and the weekly newspaper Die Zeit, were also published in expanded versions as books, becoming bestsellers.Börsenblatt 9 February 2022: Buchcharts – die aktuellen Bestsellerlisten. Kermani rückt auf Platz 1, retrieved 15 July 2026. In cooperation with the Avicenna relief organization founded by his father Djavad Kermani, Kermani initiated fundraising campaigns for aid projects in Aceh (Indonesia), Lesbos, Madagascar and Tigray after returning from his reporting trips.Navid Kermani: "Hilfe für Tigray". retrieved 16 February 2026.Avicenna Kultur- und Hilfswerk: "Tigrey nach dem Krieg". retrieved 16 February 2026. Kermani's books have been translated into numerous languages. In his public statements and speeches, Kermani regularly comments on issues of society, politics and religion. Jan-Werner Müller described him in the New York Review of Books as one of Germany's most thought-provoking intellectual voices. From 2009 to 2012, Kermani was a senior fellow at the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut (KWI) Institute for Advanced Humanities Study in Essen.Lebenslauf auf der Website des Autors. In 2009, he was appointed a corresponding member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften [Academy of Sciences] in Hamburg. In the summer semester of 2010, Kermani served as guest lecturer in poetics at the Goethe University Frankfurt, where he gave the Frankfurter Poetikvorlesungen [Frankfurt Poetics Lectures], which were later published as a book entitled Über den Zufall. Jean Paul, Hölderlin und der Roman, den ich schreibe [On Contingency: Jean Paul, Hölderlin, and the Novel I Am Writing].Die Süddeutsche Zeitung über die Frankfurter Poetik-Vorlesungen 2010 (PDF; 26 kB). In the winter semester of 2011/12, Kermani delivered the Göttingen Poetics Lecture series,Universität Göttingen: uni-goettingen.de and in 2014, the Mainz Poetics Lecture series.Wiesbadener Kurier: 1 February 2014. In the summer semester of 2013, he was a visiting professor for Islamic intellectual history at the Goethe University Frankfurt. In the spring of 2014, he taught German literature as Max Kade visiting professor at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. From 2017 to 2020, Kermani taught creative writing as a visiting professor at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne.Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln: "Sieben neue Professor*innen an die KHM berufen, von Juliane Kuhn". retrieved 14 February 2026. On 22 October 2023, Kermani read texts on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the Berlin Philharmonic during a concert by the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin under Robin Ticciati.Deutschlandfunk 1 January 2024: ProfessorDas DSO Berlin: Beethovens Sinfonie Nr. 9 mit Texten von Navid Kermani. Freude und LeidProfessor, retrieved 14 February 2026.
Candidacy relating to elections of the German Federal president At the 2010 election for the German Federal President, Kermani served as a member of the 14th Federal Assembly at the recommendation of the Green Party of Hessen. And in 2017, Kermani was mentioned as a potential candidate for German Federal President in that year's federal presidential election."Kermani als Bundespräsident? Muslim und moderner Patriot". In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.Bernd Ulrich: "Navid Kermani?" In: Zeit online. 29 July 2016, retrieved 27 March 2026. According to a report in Der Spiegel, then-SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel, in cooperation with other parties, had intended to nominate Kermani to run for Federal President. However, the plan failed due to resistance from the Greens. In particular, Kermani was rejected by the Realos wing of the Green Party, because the Realos were aiming to form a Black-Green coalition (i.e. a coalition with the Christian Democrats) subsequent to the general federal elections and thus did not want to be seen as endorsing a Red-Red-Green (i.e. Social Democratic, Left Party and Green Party) coalition.Der Spiegel Politik Nr. 47/2016 18 November 2016: "Koalition. Einfach machtlos, von Stefan Berg, Sven Böll, Markus Feldenkirchen, Lothar Gorris, Marc Hujer, Ralf Neukirch, René Pfister und Wolf Wiedmann-Schmidt". retrieved 27 March 2026.
Iraq War (2003)