What was the nationality of Julius Abdulkerim Germanus?

Gyula Germanus (6 November 1884, in Budapest – 7 November 1979, in Budapest), alias Julius Abdulkerim Germanus, was a professor of oriental studies, a Hungarian writer and Islamologist, member of the Hungarian Parliament and member of multiple Arabic academies of science, who made significant contributions to the study of the Arabic language, history of language and cultural history. He was a follower of the famous orientalist, Sir Ármin Vámbéry and became a scholar of world repute.

Julius Germanus was born in Budapest on 6 November 1884 into an assimilated Jewish middle-class family.

Having graduated from high school, Germanus decided to spend time in Bosnia, the nearest Islamic country to Hungary. This was his first encounter with Muslims. The visit to Bosnia reinforced his decision to pursue oriental studies.

His parents preferred him to become an engineer but after coming home, Germanus enrolled at the University of Sciences in Budapest to read Latin and History.

In Saudi Arabia, to stay first in Jeddah and then in Mecca. In 1935 he was the first Hungarian Muslim to perform the Hajj in Mecca.

A book about his journeys in the Holy Land came out one year later (1936), first in Hungarian, and after a great success it was translated into German (Allah Akbar. Im Banne des Islams) and Italian (Sulle orme di Maometto).