Ahmed Hassanein

Ahmed Hassanein was born in 1889, the son of an Al-Azhar University professor, and grandson of the last Admiral of the Egyptian fleet before it was dismantled under British occupation in 1882. He studied at Balliol College of Oxford University. He was chosen by King Fuad I to tutor his son, the future King Farouk, and taught him Arabic. He also served as the Chief of the Diwan and Chamberlain to Farouk. He was an accomplished fencer and represented Egypt in the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics. He was also a renowned geographic explorer who undertook several scientific expeditions in the Libyan Desert. He discovered the Lost Oases of Jebel Uweinat and Jebel Arkenu, and corrected the position of Kufra on maps. He also documented the history and culture of the Senussi people. He published his report in the National Geographic Magazine and wrote a book titled The Lost Oases. He received the Founder’s Medal of the British Royal Geographical Society in 1924. He died in a car accident on the Qasr al-Nil Bridge in 1946.