		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 28 May - 3 June 1998 Issue No.379
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Obituary

The good doctor

By Fayza Hassan

The first time I met Hashem Fouad, back in the early '60s, he had just married my dear classmate and old friend Tohfa, whose father was the renowned ear, nose and throat professor Ahmed Handoussa. Hashem was then a young assistant professor at Qasr Al-Aini Hospital, in the same field as his father-in-law, and was rumoured to be headed toward a brilliant career. Everyone envied Tohfa for having married such a dashingly handsome young man. He was not only good-looking, he had a remarkably sharp sense of humour, which remained his trademark over the years.

By 1972, Hashem was a full professor of ear, nose and throat surgery at the Faculty of Medicine of Qasr Al-Aini. His reputation was soaring higher practically by the day. Stories of successful treatment and miraculous surgical interventions were recounted by rich and poor alike, but he received the special blessings of those who had benefited from his medical knowledge free of charge. He never accepted a fee from those who could ill afford it.

In 1979, Hashem Fouad became dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Qasr Al-Aini Hospital, a post he held until 1987. During these years, he was known for his complete integrity as well as the patriarchal, totalitarian authority with which he ruled his territory. His students, his assistants and his collaborators feared him, but could not help admiring the improvements which took place in their professional environment during his deanship. While complaining of his despotism, they were prompt to recognise his infinite capacities of patience and compassion for the sick and the needy.

Honours were heaped upon Hashem Fouad during his career. He became a member of the most prestigious ear, nose and throat associations the world over: he was a member of the American Surgeons' Association, head of the Egyptian Association of Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeons, of the Permanent Scientific Council for the Employment of Professors of Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery and of the Friends of Qasr Al-Aini Association. He was also chairman of the Technical Health Institute, member of the board of the Egyptian Health Association and a member of the Committee on the Medical Education Section at the Higher Council of Universities.

A confirmed workaholic, Hashem Fouad was not content with simply serving his patients, the Faculty and medicine. He had energy for more and, later in life, turned his attention to a different endeavour: he was elected chairman of the board of the Gezira Sporting Club, an honorary post he not only occupied for over 15 years, as he was re-elected several times, but one he transformed to accommodate his formidable dynamism.

Walking the grounds every morning, he made a point of supervising every small detail himself, and ruled the club as he had once ruled the hospital, as an absolute, albeit benevolent, monarch. He acquired many enemies in the process, especially among those who did not relish too close a scrutiny into the club's administrative matters. The Gezira Club will never be the same now that Hashem Fouad is gone, and for many friends and patients the world will be a poorer place without his booming voice and his encouraging pat on the back.