Abdulaziz Al Fahad

Invented the first Arabic-language typewriter in 1948, revolutionizing Middle Eastern publishing

Abdulaziz Al Fahad (1910-1968) was a Kuwaiti inventor whose 1948 creation of the Al-Fahad Arabic Typewriter transformed written communication in the Arab world. Before his invention, Arabic texts required laborious hand-lettering or imported European machines modified with Arabic stickers - a process so cumbersome that only 3% of Arabic books were locally printed in 1940. His machine used a unique keyboard layout with 28 keys representing Arabic letters' base forms, combined with a mechanical system to produce the 17 variations needed for contextual letter-shaping. This innovation reduced printing costs by 70%, enabling the first Arabic-language newspapers like Al-Anba to be produced locally. Al-Fahad's 1953 patent became the basis for IBM's first Arabic typewriter in 1964. His story is chronicled in Ink and Iron, while the 2020 film The Letters' Liberation dramatizes his struggle against British manufacturers who tried to block his patent. Modern scholars credit him with preserving Arabic script's integrity during the Cold War era's cultural battles.