Mahmud Abu Al-Fath (; 1885 – 15 August 1958 in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

) was an Egyptian journalist, founder and owner of the Wafdist newspaper '' Al Misri''.

Biography

Abu Al-Fath was born in 1885, and his father, Sheikh Ahmed Abu Al-Fath, was a professor of the Islamic law. He studied Law at the King Fuad I University in 1906, before working as a journalist at ''

Al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...

''. He was a member of the Wafd Party in 1936 and founded '' Al Misri'' in the same year, then served in the Egyptian Senate during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1954, Abu Al-Fath was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in absentia for his criticisms of

Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...

. He claimed asylum in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, later travelling to

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and taking Iraqi citizenship.

References

1885 births 1958 deaths Cairo University alumni Egyptian newspaper founders Egyptian emigrants to Iraq Naturalized citizens of Iraq Wafd Party politicians 20th-century Egyptian politicians {{egypt-journalist-stub