Khaled al-Anani (; born 14 March 1971 in

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza''; , , ' ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of ...

) is an Egyptian Egyptologist and politician. He was the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities from December 29, 2019 to August 13, 2022. He is Egypt's candidate for election as Director-General of Unesco in 2025.

Youth and studies

Khaled El-Enany was born on 14 March 1971 in Giza, Egypt. He is the son of an engineer and a French teacher. He attended a French-speaking secondary school, where he passed his baccalauréat in 1988.

Academic career

Al-Anani studied

Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Ancient Greek, Greek , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian History of Egypt, history, Egyptian language, language, Ancient Egypt ...

at the

Helwan University Helwan University is a public university based in Helwan, Egypt, which is part of Greater Cairo on over . It comprises 23 faculties and two higher institutes in addition to 50 research centers. Overview Helwan University is a member of the ...

with the aim of becoming a

tourist guide A tour guide (U.S.) or a tourist guide (European) is a person who provides assistance, and information on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage to people on organized sightseeing and individual clients at educational establishments, rel ...

. He later obtained a

MAS Mas, Más or MAS may refer to: Film and TV * Más y Menos, fictional superhero characters, from the Teen Titans animated television series * "Más" (''Breaking Bad''), a season three episode of ''Breaking Bad'' Music Albums * ''Más'' (album), ...

and PhD at the Paul Valéry University Montpellier in 2001. He then became a professor of Egyptology at the University of Helwan, Department of Tourist Guides, then in the Faculty of Tourism and Hotel Management in 2011. He also teaches the

Ancient Egyptian language The Egyptian language, or Ancient Egyptian (; ), is an extinct branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts, which were made accessible to the modern world ...

at several universities around the world, including the

University of Palermo The University of Palermo () is a public university, public research university in Palermo, Italy. It was founded in 1806, and is currently organized in 12 Faculties. History The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although it ...

, Paul-Valéry-Montpellier University and the

Brandenburg University of Technology The Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus–Senftenberg (, BTU) was founded in 1991 and is a technical university in Brandenburg, Germany with campuses in Cottbus and Senftenberg. The university has 185 professors, 640 additional academic ...

. In addition, he became a member of several scientific institutions, notably being a corresponding member of the

German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office, Federal Foreign Office of Germany. Status, tasks and ...

in Berlin, as well as an associate researcher and member of the board of directors of the

French Institute of Oriental Archeology French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), a ...

(IFAO). In October 2014, he became the 18th director-general of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation (NMEC).

Political career

On 23 March 2016, al-Anani became the Minister of Antiquities in the government of

Sherif Ismail Sherif Ismail (, ; 6 July 1955 – 4 February 2023) was an Egyptian engineer and politician who served as the prime minister of Egypt from 2015 to 2018. He was also the minister of petroleum and mineral resources from 2013 to 2015. Early life ...

. During his tenure, he managed to secure funds to build the

Grand Egyptian Museum The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM; ''al-Matḥaf al-Maṣriyy al-Kabīr''), also known as the Giza Museum, is an archaeological museum in Giza, Egypt, about from the Giza pyramid complex. The Museum hosts over 100,000 artifacts from ancient E ...

, and renovate other historical buildings such as the Baron Empain Palace,

Graeco-Roman Museum The Graeco-Roman Museum is an archaeological museum located in Alexandria, Egypt. Its collection of over 40,000 objects includes sculptures, mosaics, woodwork, and coins. History Erected in 1892, it was first built in a five-room apartment, in ...

and

Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue The Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue (; ) is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 69 Nabi Daniel Street, Alexandria, Egypt. History The current synagogue is located on the site of an earlier synagogue that was completed in 1354. ...

. He also organizes press conferences following archaeological discoveries to promote tourism. In addition, he aims to combat

extremism Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied sha ...

by encouraging the Egyptian population to take a greater interest in the

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

history. When the government of

Mostafa Madbouly Mostafa Kamal Madbouly (born 28 April 1966) is an Egyptian politician who serves as the 54th and current Prime Minister of Egypt. He was appointed by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to succeed Sherif Ismail following his government's resignation i ...

was appointed in 2018, he retained his post. The field of

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

was added to his portfolio during the reshuffle of December 22, 2019, to become the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities. He was replaced by

Ahmed Issa Ahmed Issa (July 17, 1943 – 1983) was a middle-distance runner who competed for Chad. Issa was part of the two-man team that first ever represented Chad at the Summer Olympics when he competed at the 1964 Games held in Tokyo, he competed in t ...

as Minister of Tourism and Antiquities in a cabinet reshuffle on 13 August 2022. ICE_XII_Kairo_2019-11-03a

In 2024, he was designated UN Tourism Ambassador for Cultural Tourism. In 2025, he was designated as the rapporteur of the African World Heritage Fund.

Candidate for the Post of Director-General of UNESCO

He is Egypt's candidate for election as Director-General of UNESCO for the term 2025 to 2029. His candidacy is supported by the

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The b ...

, the

Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...

and several countries including France, Spain, Türkiye, Gabon, Germany and Brazil.

Honours

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Chevalier ribbon

Knight of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

(2015) *

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland () is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident abroad. As such, it is sometimes referred to as ...

(2020) *

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

(2021) *

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from the

Paul Valéry University Montpellier 3 Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anani, Khaled 1971 births Living people People from Giza Helwan University alumni University of Montpellier alumni Academic staff of Helwan University Egyptian Egyptologists Antiquities ministers of Egypt Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Recipients of the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis 21st-century Egyptian politicians