AMMAN — A reference book “Who is who” represents an annual form of a hardback edition which has been published in different countries for more than 150 years. This type of a volume deals with prominent individuals from the fields of sciences, arts, politics, sports, entertainment industry and business.The oldest reference work on famous contemporaries appeared in the UK back in 1849. The book normally contains concise biographical information on life, career and achievements of listed figures and all countries in the world periodically print such encyclopedias.

After graduating at the university in 1985, Akram Jarwan, the author of the Jordanian version of “Who is who”, titled “Encyclopedia of Distinguished Jordanian Figures”, decided to dedicate his energy and knowledge to highlight successful Jordanians and present them as role models to educate the Jordanian youth. Instead of pursuing his academic career abroad, Jarwan decided to work with the Jordanian educational institutions.

“My idea has been to improve the level of education of youngsters and raise awareness on different social issues,” Jarwan, who is a sociologist, said in an interview for The Jordan Times, adding that for the past five years he has been leading the initiative “Your project is your homeland”.

Working at the Ministry of Youth as an adviser, Jarwan was encouraged to start the series of essays on prominent Jordanian figures and to collect material that would later take a shape of an encyclopedia.

“I focused on famed public figures who left their mark for the past 25 years and since we are approaching the Silver Jubilee of the rule of His Majesty King Abdullah, I decided to prepare an encyclopedia of successful Jordanian leaders. The second volume will be printed in February 2024,” Jarwan said, adding that the first bilingual volume (published in Arabic and English) already contains biographies of 100 notables. Two volumes will describe biographies of 200 distinguished Jordanians, he said.

The goal of two volume books was to highlight achievements of Jordan as a state and their citizens, Jarwan said, adding that youth should be proud of the Jordanian heritage and can look for their role models within this society.

“I wanted to document a certain period of history and emphasise different aspects of Jordanian ongoing achievements.” Jarwan noted.