Gamal Hamdan () (February 2, 1928 – April 17, 1993) was an Egyptian

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or research ...

and

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

. Among his most prominent books are ''The Character of Egypt'', ''Studies of the Arab World'', and ''The Contemporary Islamic World Geography'', which form a trilogy on Egypt's natural, economic, political, and cultural character and its position in the world.

Birth

Hamdan was born in the

Qalyubia Governorate Qalyubia Governorate ( ar, محافظة القليوبية ' ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. Located in Lower Egypt. It is situated north of Cairo in the Nile Delta region. Its capital is Banha. Name Name of Qalubiyya governorate is dr ...

on February 4, 1928. His father, a teacher of

Arabic language Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, had been discharged from

Al Azhar University , image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg , image_size = 250 , caption = Al-Azhar University portal , motto = , established = *970/972 first foundat ...

educational institution on charges of participating in demonstrations in the

Egyptian Revolution of 1919 The Egyptian Revolution of 1919 ( ''Thawra 1919'') was a countrywide revolution against the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan. It was carried out by Egyptians from different walks of life in the wake of the British-ordered exile of the ...

Education

At the age of eight, he joined the

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

. He then moved to the prestigious Tawfiqiyya secondary school, which had nationwide fame for its high educational standard and sports facilities. There, he became aware of his love and

innate talent {{Short pages monitor