Mohammed Hussein Heikal


Mohammed Hussein Heikal was an Egyptian writer, journalist, politician and Minister of Education in Egypt.

Life

Haekal was born in Kafr Ghannam, Mansoura, Ad Daqahliyah in 1888. He obtained a B.A. in Law in 1909 and a PhD from the Sorbonne University in Paris in 1912. While a student in Paris, he composed what is considered the first authentic Egyptian novel, Zaynab. After returning to Egypt, he worked as a lawyer for 10 years, then as a journalist. He was elected as editor-in-chief of Al Siyasa newspaper, the organ of "The Liberal Constitutionalist party" for which he was also an adviser. In 1937, he was appointed as Minister of State for the Interior Ministry in the Muhammad Mahmoud Pasha's second government. Then he was appointed as a Minister of Education where he introduced several reforms, including decentralization, by establishing educational zones and making programs and curricula nationally oriented. He was greatly influenced and inspired by the comprehensive reforms of Mohammad Abduh, Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed and Qasim Amin. One of his protegés was the historian Husayn Fawzi al-Najjar.
Haykal is the father of seven children: Dr Ateya, Taheya, Dr Hussein, Hedeya, Bahiga, Dr Fayza Haikal, and Ahmad. Dr Fayza teaches Egyptology at the American University in Cairo.

Works

His works include: