Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed

Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed was a prominent Egyptian nationalist, intellectual, anti-colonial activist and the first president of Cairo University. He was an influential person in the Egyptian nationalist movement and used his position in the media to strive and gain an independent Egypt from British rule. He was also one of the architects of modern Egyptian nationalism as well as the architect of Egyptian secularism and liberalism. He was fondly known as the “Professor of the Generation”. Lutfi was one of the fiercest opponents of pan-Arabism, insisting that Egyptians are Egyptians and not Arabs. He is considered one of the most influential scholars and intellectuals in the history of Egypt. Lutfi was born in the rural village of Berqin, near Al Senbellawein in the Dakahlia Governorate on 15 January 1872. He was educated in a traditional kuttāb, a government school in Manṣūra, the Khedivial Secondary School in Cairo and the School of Law in Cairo. While at law school, Al-Sayyid made contact with influential people such as Muhammad Abduh and Hassuna al-Nawawi. Abduh played a pivotal role in Lutfi’s experience with his reformist movement as well as his ideology concerning politics. After graduating from law school, Lutfi entered the legal department of government services and worked there until 1905, then under the British administration of Lord Cromer. Lutfi became editor-in-chief of a newspaper called Al Jarida in 1907. The paper was prominent for writing enlightened and liberal materials and attracted the attention of many liberal activists. The writings Lutfi composed for Al Jarida during his time as editor-in-chief are considered his most important and influential. He expounded upon his liberal beliefs about the freedom of Egypt and how people must stand up take action in the newsletters; because of these views, Lutfi created a name for himself in the media and government of Egypt. The Denshawai incident was a violent clash that occurred in June 1906 between Egyptian peasants in the village of Denshaway and British officers who were pigeon hunting in the area. The British had occupied Egypt in 1882 and deployed troops to help put down the Urabi Rebellion, an Egyptian constitutionalist movement. On 13 June 1906, five British officers were hunting for pigeons in Denshaway, an area that needs approval from a headsman. The hunt was approved, but the headsman was not with the officers. They shot pigeons belonging to villagers, angering the owners. The major catalyst was the accidental shooting of the wife of the prayer leader, Abd-el-Nebi, at the local mosque. Enraged, the Egyptian villagers attacked the British officers, who opened fire on them in response, wounding five; the officers also set fire to a grain silo owned by Abd-el-Nebi. Lutfi defended the peasants in court and wrote about the incident in Al Jarida, exposing the brutality of the British occupation and calling for resistance. With the advent of World War I, British authorities in Egypt imposed a rigid censorship, and Lutfi resigned his position as editor of Al Jarida. In 1915 he was appointed director of the National Library; during his tenure there, he was able to begin what would become an extensive project of translating a number of Aristotelean works into Arabic. At the end of the war he resigned his position to serve on the Egyptian delegation (wafd) that negotiated with Britain for the end of the British occupation of Egypt. Bickering between the various Egyptian factions during these talks hardened Luṭfī’s determination to avoid direct political involvement, and he concerned himself instead with the needs of the people and the affairs of the University of Cairo, where he served as rector (1925–32 and 1935–41). Lutfi died on 5 March 1963 in Egypt. He was buried in Cairo, where his tomb became a place of pilgrimage for many Egyptians who admired his legacy. He left behind a rich and diverse body of writings that reflected his vision of a modern, liberal, and democratic Egypt.