From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Peter Lamborn Wilson (b.
New York,
1945) is an
American political writer, essayist, and poet, perhaps best known for first proposing the concept of the
Temporary Autonomous Zone (TAZ), based on a historical review of
pirate utopias. He sometimes writes under the name
Hakim Bey. The pseudonym may or may not have been a name-of-convenience or
collective pseudonym used by other radical writers since the
1970s and is a combination of the Arabic word for 'wise man' and a last name common in the
Moorish Science Temple.
Bey, originally a Turkic word for "chieftain," traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled bey, beg or beigh. They are all the same word with the simple meaning of "leader." Also in
Turkish,
Hakim means judge and
Bey is a generic word for a gentleman (mister) generally used after a name.
