Aziz Sedky


Aziz Sedky was an Egyptian politician and engineer. Sedky served as the Prime Minister of Egypt from 17 January 1972 until 26 March 1973. He was nicknamed the "father of Egyptian industry."

Early life and education

Aziz Sedky was born in Cairo, Egypt, on 1 July 1920. He graduated with a degree in engineering from Cairo University in 1944. He went on to earn a doctorate in economic planning from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Career

Sedky was appointed as a technical adviser to the Egyptian prime minister's office in 1955, a few years after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. He next served as a full-time member of the services board until 1956.
In 1956, Sedky was appointed as Egypt's Minister of Industry by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Among Sedky's tasks as Minister was the supervision of an industrialization program, which was financed by the Soviet Union. The Soviets were, at the time, an important ally of the Egpytian government. Sedky launched a five-year industrialization plan in 1957. This initiative was later merged into a "general five-year development plan", which lasted from 1961 until 1965.
Sedky was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister for Industry and Mineral resources in 1964. Simultaneously, he also became the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in 1964 as well. In November 1970, Sedky was further elevated to Egypt's deputy prime minister for production and trade.
Sedky became Prime Minister of Egypt on 17 January 1972, following the resignation of Mahmoud Fawzi. He remained Prime Minister until 26 March 1973 when he was succeeded as Prime Minister by Anwar Sadat.

Death

Aziz Sedky died at the age of 87 on 25 January 2008, at the Hospital Europeen Georges Pompidou in Paris, France.