Antun Sa’adeh, a nationalist thinker who lived from 1904 to 1949, not only strongly influenced the development of Syrian nationalism; he was one of the major intellectual figures of modern Syria. The impact of his ideas has been felt in politics, literature and philosophy, as well as in the social sciences. Indeed, the publications for which he was best known (The Rise of Nations, The Ten Lectures, Intellectual Struggle in Syrian Literature, and The Folly of Immortality), have had a broad influence on the politico-intellectual movement in Syria and throughout the Arab World.