George Sigismond Charles Stanislas Merzbach Bey (25 September 1874 – 17 February 1928) was a Belgian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

and

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

pioneer. He was the head of one of the Mixed Courts of Egypt. In 1911, he founded and became the first president of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ian sports club Zamalek SC under the original name of Qasr El Nile Club.

Early life

Merzbach was born in the Belgian City of Brussels on 25 September 1874. His father is Henryk Merzbach (1837–1903) and his mother is Pauline le Hardy de Beaulieu (1851–1948), they married on 27 August 1870. Merzbach has three siblings, one older sister, Helene (1871–1937), one younger brother, Charles (1875–1943), and one younger sister, Claire (1880–1956). Merzbach graduated from the

Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...

with a degree in law before traveling to Egypt to intern as a lawyer with a lawyer friend of his father, Mr. Henry, who was happy with Merzbach's performance during his training. Merzbach returned to Belgium to visit his family before deciding to settle in Cairo and practice his legal profession there. He continued to return to Belgium every summer to visit his family.

Career

Law

Merzbach was a senior lawyer in Egypt, and one of the guests invited by Sultan

Hussein Kamel of Egypt Hussein Kamel (; 21 November 1853 – 9 October 1917) was the Sultan of Egypt from 19 December 1914 to 9 October 1917, during the United Kingdom, British protectorate over Egypt. He was the first person to hold the title of Sultan of Egypt si ...

to Abdeen Palace, for official banquets and advice. He had a distinctive legal experience and for that, he became one of the few advisors of Édouard Empain, Baron Empain during the foundation of the Heliopolis suburb. Also, he was one of the lawyers that King

Fuad I of Egypt Fuad I ( ''Fu’ād al-Awwal''; 26 March 1868 – 28 April 1936) was the Sultan and later King of Egypt and the Sudan. The ninth ruler of Egypt and Sudan from the Muhammad Ali dynasty, he became Sultan in 1917, succeeding his elder brother Hu ...

would resort to for legal matters. He was also one of the few lawyers that the Attorney General listened to and took advice from in order to resolve the constitutional crisis between King

and Saad Zaghloul

Pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

. Merzbach used to defend the interests of large Egyptian institutions and companies against the British occupants. Merzbach is the founder of the Faculty of Law at Cairo University, which was founded in 1925. And, he was a Professor of Law at Cairo University. Merzbach won the confidence of his fellow lawyers and was elected as the Head of Foreign Lawyers in Egypt in front of the Mixed Courts of Egypt.

Zamalek SC

Merzbach founded Zamalek SC on 5 January 1911 under the name of Qasr El Nile Club. The founding of the club was a way for Merzbach to strike back at the British occupants in Egypt, as they made the main club in Cairo, Gezira Sporting Club, exclusive for the British Army. The main idea of Zamalek SC was that it would be a club for all people. He then later moved it to the place of the High Court and changed its name to El Mokhtalat Club. Zamalek started out and continued under the presidency of Merzbach until 1915, he then left the presidency to fellow Belgian Nicolas Arfagi Bianchi, who played as a left-winger in the club's football team. Merzbach then did not involve himself in the field of sports again.

Honours

Merzbach was given many honorific orders and medals including the Order of the Noble (Egypt), the Order of the Medjidie, the

Order of the Nile The Order of the Nile (''Kiladat El Nil'') was established in 1915 and was one of the Kingdom of Egypt's principal orders until the monarchy was abolished in 1953. It was then reconstituted as the Republic of Egypt's highest state honor. Sulta ...

(highest degree of honour in Egypt), the Order of the Star of Ethiopia (highest degree of honour in Ethiopia), the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

(highest degree of honour in France), the Order of Leopold (highest degree of honour in Belgium), the Order of the Crown, and the Order of the King given to him by Sultan Hussein Kamel of Egypt. On 24 January 1911, 19 days after founding Zamalek SC, and after his great success in the field of law, Merzbach was promoted by Khedive Abbas II of Egypt and given the honorific title of Bey, a rank lower than

but higher than Effendi. Khedive Abbas II of Egypt was known for being anti- British occupation of Egypt, a stance that Merzbach shared with him. Merzbach was among the passengers on the first plane piloted by foreigners in Egypt which took place in Heliopolis in 1914. In 1922, the great archaeologist Howard Carter took Merzbach and his wife, Céline-Marie Piha, to

Luxor Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt. Luxor had a population of 263,109 in 2020, with an area of approximately and is the capital of the Luxor Governorate. It is among the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited c ...

during the discovery of the prominent and magnificent

Tomb of Tutankhamun The tomb of Tutankhamun (reigned ), a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, is located in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb, also known by its List of burials in the Valley of the Kings, tomb number KV ...

Personal life

Merzbach spoke French as his first language. He was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. Merzbach married his first wife, Marie Paléologue (born 24 December 1879), on 27 July 1916, she was the daughter of Dimitri and Ortenaia, they belonged to the family of the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

emperors The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/ grand empress dowager), or a woman who rule ...

, she died on 13 November 1916, less than four months after their marriage, she was killed in the only aerial bombardment of Cairo in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

which was perpetrated by the German aircrews of the ''

Luftstreitkräfte The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Combat Forces)known before October 1916 as (The Imperial German Air Service, lit. "The flying troops of the German Kaiser’s Reich")was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-langu ...

''. Merzbach married his second wife, Céline-Marie Piha (born 9 July 1885 in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

), on 4 February 1922, she was the daughter of Elie and Elvire Nahman, she died on 9 October 1972 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 44 years after Merzbach's death. Merzbach never had any children.

Death

Merzbach died on 27 February 1928, at the age of 53, in Cairo, Egypt. Merzbach's funeral was attended by the Head of the Supreme Judicial Council and the Minister of Justice. He was buried in the Latin Cemetery (Terra Santa Cemetery) in Al Sayyidah Zaynab, Old Cairo, Cairo, Egypt. His burial place is present in Aisle 39, Grave No. 15.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merzbach, George 1874 births 1928 deaths 20th-century Belgian lawyers Zamalek SC presidents Belgian expatriates in Egypt People from Brussels Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Ethiopia