Amin Maalouf is a Lebanese-born French author and journalist. He is best known for his novels, which explore themes of identity, exile, and belonging. Maalouf was born in Beirut in 1949 and moved to France in 1976. He has written several novels, including The Rock of Tanios, Leo the African, and Samarkand. He has also written several non-fiction works, including In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong and Origins: A Memoir. Maalouf has won numerous awards, including the Prix Goncourt, the Prince of Asturias Award, and the Erasmus Prize. He is a member of the Académie française and the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. Maalouf's work has been translated into more than 40 languages.