Bodufenvalhugey Sidi, born on 19 May 1888 as Hussain el-Hussaini, was the son of Bodufenvalhugey Dhon Manike and Mohamed Kuda Sidi. He was a
poet, and also at one time
chief justice. He married eight women and had five surviving children from four of these marriages. His first wife was Bodugalugey Aisha Didi, daughter of Bodugalugey Lhathutthu Didi. Among his descendants are Ahmed Mujuthaba and Mohamed Mustafa, who are both prominent in
Maldivian administration and politics. Bodufenvalhuge Sidi was banished to
Hulhudheli in
Dhaalu Atoll. Many of his maternal relatives from Addu Atoll regularly stopped at that island for provisions and water on their way to and from Malé. The authorities became suspicious and decided to send him to
Maamakunudhoo, the remotest of the northern islands. In exile in Maamakunudhoo, he continued to pursue his literary work and wrote much of his poetry. It was there that he adopted his pen name of "Himaarul Qawm" or "Donkey of the Nation". He distributed his poetry, then banned by the government, to his associates in Malé through an ex-wife, Maavaa Kileygefaanu Gan'duvaru Goma, and his sister Bodufenvalhugey Dhon Didi. Sidi remained on Maamakunudhoo Island for eight years until he was pardoned in a general amnesty following the forced abdication of King Shamsuddheen. Upon arrival in Malé he was appointed Chief Justice. He was also appointed to the Council of Regency that ruled in the absence of a sultan. After returning to Malé, he continued to write poetry and a few novels and other books. He was the last known person with a working knowledge of the older Maldive script called
Dhives Akuru. Sidi was one of the very few Maldivian people of modern times who understood the now-forgotten ancient Dhivehi letters in which parts of royal grants, warrants and deeds were written. He learnt this ancient Dhivehi writing system in Addu Atoll. Until early in the twentieth century, all government correspondence to and from Addu Atoll was written using these ancient Dhivehi letters. Apart from a stint in politics as the Minister of Education, Bodufenvalhugey Sidi remained in the legal/ecclesiastical professions. His literary work gradually became less radical and more conventional with age. Bodufenvalhugey Sidi died in Malé on 2 June 1970. ==Works==