The story of Sa’ad Zaghlul, one of the most iconic figures in Egyptian history, famous for his opposition to British rule The Origins of Sa’ad Zaghlul Sa’ad Zaghlul was born on July 1, 1859, in the village of Ibyanah, in the Kafr el-Sheikh Governorate, in the Nile Delta. As a young man, he studied in Cairo at both Al-Azhar University and the French University of Law, developing a sensibility that would later prove crucial in his political career, both with Europeans and Egyptians.

Thanks to his charisma and talent, he soon became a close friend of Princess Nazli Fazl, which opened the doors for a privileged relationship with Mustafa Fahmi Pasha, then Egyptian Prime Minister, whose daughter, Safiya, he married in 1896. The climb From then on, he began a veritable ascent to the highest offices of state, leading him to positions such as judge, Minister of Education (1906-1908), Minister of Justice (1910-1912), and in 1913, Vice-President of the Legislative Assembly.

Sa’ad Zaghlul’s talent lay above all in being the perfect liaison between the British occupiers and an increasingly nationalist Egypt. This was due to his ability to create new laws that were as appealing as possible to Egyptian nationalism, without ever crossing the line that would have triggered reactions from the British occupier; however, this changed profoundly after the First World War.

The Wafd and exile In 1919, Sa’ad Zaghlul personally attended the Paris Conference, demanding the independence of Egypt and Sudan (at the time they were a single country), arousing the furious ire of the British; they ordered him to immediately cease all political agitation, and when he refused, they exiled him first to Malta and then to the Seychelles, allowing him to return home only in 1923. Sa’ad Zaghlul in 1924 Meanwhile, his exile had caused enormous unrest in the country, which materialized in full force in the 1919 Revolution, a moment that would shape the imagination of many great intellectuals like Naguib Mahfouz.

In 1924, elections were finally held, and the Wafd, Sa’ad Zaghlul’s party, won an overwhelming majority; but that very year, Sir Lee Stack, sirdar and governor-general of Sudan, was assassinated, prompting the British to make such heavy demands that he resigned. After two years of abandoning the political scene, he took up the office of President of Parliament, finally passing away on 23 August 1927.

Sa’ad Zaghlul will be one of the protagonists of the ‘Guide’ to Egypt by Medio Oriente e Dintorni, to be released on 25 January, playing a central role in the section on the early 1900s. Follow me on Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, and Instagram, or subscribe to my Telegram channel or newsletter (released on the 7th of every month); you’ll find all the links in one place: here.

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