(born 1925) Palestinian-born intellectual known for both his groundbreaking research in comparative literature and his incisive political commentary especially on issues relating to Palestinians. Author of Orientalism (1978), which radically altered the study of literature and colonialism, and Culture and Imperialism (1993), Columbia professor Said is one of the most prominent intellectuals in the United States today. A member of the Palestine National Council, he has been an outspoken critic of American foreign policy in the Middle East.