Al-Ahram: A Diwan of contemporary life (495)
Bridge over the Mediterranean
The idea that Egypt could one day be part of Europe has its origins in the days of Mohamed Ali who sought to build a bridge connecting the two worlds by sending Egyptian scholastic missions to the West. The new link gave rise to a predominantly francophone class of Egyptian intellectuals which proved highly resistant to attempts by the British occupation to plant a more anglophone culture. Professor Yunan Labib Rizk* charts how a cultural as well as a linguistic gap was bridged
Khedive Ismail; Giuseppe Verdi; Taha Hussein
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It is said that the Khedive Ismail invited Giuseppe Verdi to Egypt after having commissioned him to write Aida to celebrate the opening of the Egyptian Opera House. It was to be one of the festivities marking the inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1869. The famous composer turned down the invitation; he was afraid of the sea. In response, the khedive famously said, "If I could build a bridge from Naples to Alexandria so Verdi could come, I would do so."
If this story is cited to illustrate Ismail's notorious extravagance, it also symbolises his dream of making Egypt a part of Europe, as he put it. Ismail was not the first Egyptian ruler to entertain such an ambition. Indeed, his grandfather, Mohamed Ali, attempted to build such a bridge by sponsoring scholastic missions to Europe -- France and Italy in particular -- and by inviting European experts to Egypt to lay the foundation for modern academic institutions, the army and a modern government administration.
Eventually, there evolved an Egyptian intellectual trend with a Mediterranean orientation. Its major exponent was Taha Hussein, in The Future of Culture in Egypt (1938) and later through Al-Katib Al-Misri, a cultural periodical of which Hussein was editor-in-chief (1946-1948). Over half a century later, this Mediterranean feature was enshrined in the revival of the Library of Alexandria, the symbol of Mediterranean culture.
Throughout this period, Lebanese intellectuals whose second language was for the most part French -- sometimes it was their first -- played an important role in the spread of the trans-Mediterranean affiliation. Emigrating to Egypt in successive waves beginning in the mid-19th century, they sustained this link primarily through the press. The founders of Al-Ahram, Bishara and Selim Taqla, for example, secured their licence in their capacity as French dependents. Much of the foreign news they published was derived from French news agencies and sources, and the first foreign-language newspaper they founded was the French-language Les Pyramids.
While the contributions of these Egyptian and Lebanese intellectuals are well known, Al-Ahram reveals a lesser known aspect in the trans-Mediterranean bridge. In 1932 it announced a forthcoming conference on the Latin press in Egypt sponsored by the Latin Press Organisation. Founded in Lyon nine years earlier, one of the stated aims of the organisation was "to preserve the legacy of the family of Latin peoples", towards which end it had held conferences in several other Mediterranean cities in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and other countries whose national languages derive from Latin.
In its editorial appearing on the front page of the Sunday edition of 10 January 1932, Al-Ahram reported, "The representatives of the Latin Press Organisation landed in Alexandria yesterday where they were warmly welcomed by that city of science which had long guided mankind with the light of knowledge. This city was revived by Mohamed Ali, who gave it new youth and vigour. The city of Alexandria embraced the visiting Latin writers in that spirit of brotherhood that gathers together the peoples of the Mediterranean to the extent that none feels a stranger in the other's home. Our visitors certainly must have felt this as Alexandria reached out to shake their hands and to salute them, in the certainty that they would reciprocate in extending the hand of brotherhood to us."
This situation, the article continued, emanated from the conviction of representatives of the Latin press that "the Eastern Mediterranean -- the basin in which this country and their countries lie -- had always provided the most fertile ground and favourable climes for the development and advancement of mankind. Indeed, they hold that the Nile Valley is the birthplace of that civilisation that has spread across the shores of this basin and thrives until the present day, and they laud that spirit of cooperation that in ancient times was born in Egypt and that is now being extended to Egypt from the West -- from the Latin countries in particular -- in fulfilment of their debt to the East."
The editorial closed with a significant observation: "Our honourable guests who arrived in Egypt today are not in a strange country. Fifty years ago the Khedive Ismail said that Egypt was a part of Europe, indeed, a part of the West, and that the Mediterranean was but the connective link. And so it has always been throughout the ages, and even more so today, now that the modern inventions of this era have erased all obstacles and barriers."
Out of the sense that their city had always been a symbol of Mediterranean culture, the municipality of Alexandria arranged a tour of the city for their visitors. Taking in 40 landmarks, the tour was more exhaustive than any organised in any other city including Cairo. It began with Al-Bahriya Street, "where the Ismail Highway is under construction to serve as the gateway to the city and the port", and proceeded to Sabri Pasha Street, built between 1927 and 1930 to give more convenient access to the eastern port and Anfoushi. "At one end of this road one sees the Qait Bey Citadel situated on a piece of land extending into the port, and upon which stood the Lighthouse of Alexandria in ancient times." The visitors then headed out to Ras Al-Tin Gardens and the royal palace and then made their way back through Anfoushi to Saad Zaghloul Square and then to Mohamed Ali Square, "which marks the city centre, in which stands a statue of the founder of the royal dynasty and on the eastern edge of which is located the stock market building".
The tour also took in Manshiya Square, Amoud Al-Sawari Street over which towers Pompeii's Pillar, Kom Al-Shuqafa to inspect ruins that date to the second century AD, the Greco-Roman Museum, the water pumping station and Mahmoudiya Canal and, finally, Antoniades Gardens which had been donated to the city by Antoni Antoniades.
Commenting on the tour, La Réforme, a French-language newspaper published in Alexandria, expressed its hopes that when they returned to their country, the city's guests would "tell their compatriots of the beauty of our city so that if they ever pass through it on their way to Upper Egypt they will stop for several days so as to enjoy the sights and pleasures that had so delighted these intellectual leaders during their stay in Alexandria".
La Réforme's prayers were answered. The editor-in-chief of La Volentà penned a glowing description in her newspaper of the "Bride of the Mediterranean". Alexandria, she writes, "is home to a blend of all religions and nationalities. Its magnanimity is manifested in its many hospitals, notably the Greek Hospital, the European Hospital, the Egyptian Hospital and the Italian and Israeli hospitals. In addition to these there are the many orphanages."
More significant was an article appearing in another publication under the headline, "The Pride of Alexandria". Scholars of the ancient world, the journalist wrote, "could not mention the name of Alexandria without affixing to it epithets indicative of its grandeur and splendour, such as 'The Glorious', 'The Prosperous', 'The Distinguished' and 'The Blissful'." He also noted: "The arts of Alexandria were as advanced as those of the Greeks and continued to flourish from the death of Alexander the Great to the Roman conquest."
It was only natural that Al-Ahram, in its extensive coverage of the two-week long Latin language press conference, would focus on the extent to which such a conference would promote Egypt. Egypt would be the talk of hundreds of newspapers and magazines published in the dozens of countries that were participating in the conference. Their words would carry to hundreds of millions of people, "most of whom know nothing of Egypt, or if they do know, it derives from that distorted image that took form in their minds through postcards that have been distributed around the world by merchants in the pursuit of profit at the expense of Oriental nations."
Naturally, too, the newspaper assiduously followed every statement and article that underscored the close relationship Egypt had with other countries of the Mediterranean. For example, it seized upon the following remarks of one of the conference's participants: "You and us, we are a single family whose members must get to know one another better. The Greeks and Romans are the fathers of Latin culture and the Egyptians its grandfathers. Therefore, we feel that here we are in our own country and that we have acquired the nobility of our ancient history from you. We came to Egypt in search of the certificate of our ancient origins. It is said that Egypt is the gift of the Nile. I say that Latin culture is the gift of Egypt."
Speaking in similar reverential tones, another participant referred to Egypt as the cradle of the civilisation of those countries bordering the Mediterranean. "And, today too, it could play an important role in the development of ideas, the arts and the economy among Latin peoples. In view of the auspicious fruits that have resulted from the relations between Egypt and many Latin nations, the members of this conference express their hope that journalists will take it upon themselves to promote the relationship between Egypt and the Latin world so that these ties can grow ever stronger."
One of the most enlightening papers presented to the conference was "The history of the Latin press in Egypt", presented by M Paul Yves Sebieu on 25 January. The first foreign-language newspapers to appear in the country were the two official newspapers published during the French expedition in Egypt (1798-1801) and Le Moniteur Egyptien published in Alexandria. More important, however, were the non-governmental efforts undertaken by citizens of Mediterranean countries. These were spearheaded by Italian papers, one founded in 1848 and the other appearing four years later. These were soon followed by a French newspaper, then the first Greek newspaper in 1856, followed by another Italian newspaper, Il Progresso d'Egitto, appearing the following year. By the end of the decade, three more newspapers were founded: Le Sphinx in French, the Italian Il Giornale Maritimo in Alexandria and La Bourse Egyptienne, again in French.
As the wave of European migration to Egypt gained momentum at the end of the reign of Said and throughout the reign of his successor the Khedive Ismail (1863-1879) so too did the press. Le Queue d'Egitto (1861) was followed by another Italian newspaper, Il Comercio, then by two more French newspapers, L'Egypte and Le Nil, in 1865. More appeared in the 1870s, the decade in which Al-Ahram was founded: the Italian Il Coriere Egiziano published in Alexandria and the French L'Indépendent published in Cairo.
Sebieu went on to list the French, Italian and Greek publications that were still in operation at the time of the conference. These included the French-language Le Phare d'Alexandrie and La Réforme, the Italian daily, Il Giornale Dorinati, and eight Greek weeklies, five published in Alexandria and three in Cairo. At the same time, he noted the paucity of English- language newspapers, of which the best known was The Egyptian Gazette, founded in Cairo in 1880. Nothing in his opinion could be more indicative of the continued prevalence of Latin over Anglo Saxon culture in Egypt in spite of half a century of British occupation. French was the language of business and commerce in Egypt and anyone embarking in that field had to know it. That it was not taught in schools created a predicament for foreign companies forced to employ Syrians and Jews, most of whom knew French.
A French-language newspaper was of the same opinion. Under the headline, "French in Egypt is not extraneous" it criticised British efforts to supplant French in Egypt by imposing English as the language of instruction in primary schools. In spite of these efforts, however, French has retained its status. By way of illustration, the writer related the story of an Egyptian who had received his primary school education in Egypt and had applied for employment in three major foreign companies. "In all instances, his prospective employer asked whether he knew French. Eventually, the young man went to night school where, to his great surprise, he discovered that most of his classmates were employees who needed to learn French."
Another speaker attributed the continued prevalence of French over English in Egypt to the long history of friendly relations that bound the Latin peoples with Egypt. He continued: "The Latin influence still prevails today in cultural circles in Egypt, in spite of 50 years of British occupation. French is more widely spoken among educated Egyptians than English and Egyptians are more open to instruction in the language, law and ways of life of Latin peoples than they are to the language, laws and ways of life of the British." A Belgian publication echoed this view. "All members of the enlightened class in Egypt speak French fluently and nine- tenths of the films screened in Egypt are in French," it observed.
Such articles and statements were only the hors d'oeuvres to whet the public's appetite for more in-depth information on the history of the relationship between Egypt and Latin- language-speaking nations. One participant to furnish such insight was Jean Venieu in his paper on "Egypt in the World of French Literature". It is the common impression that French men of letters had little interest in the history and spirit of Egypt, he said. This was entirely untrue. "In the Middle Ages, aspiring scholars in France had to learn by rote entire epic poems centring on the stories of Thebes or of Alexander the Great."
Venieu went on to cite French philosopher Gustav Le Bon who wrote that although he believed that ancient civilisation reached its pinnacle in Greece, it had its origins in the East. "We now know that when the ancient Greeks were languishing in the shadows of ignorance, kingdoms were thriving on the banks of the Nile... The scientific renaissance that came to us through Greek and Latin texts also came with solid rules for studying the ancient civilisations of the Mediterranean. People during that time were particularly thirsty for knowledge and they sought it out wherever they could. It was their desire to emulate ancient Alexandria, famous for its arts and sciences."
Turning to the French writers for whom Egypt was a source of inspiration, the speaker paid special tribute to Victor Hugo, the first to draw the attention of French men of letters to the East in the early 19th century. "Hugo was harshly criticised by his contemporaries for having written about countries in which he had never set foot, which prompted him to travel to Egypt in 1806." Another pacesetter in the field of belles-lettres was François Chateaubriand whose visit to Egypt in the early 19th century paved the way for the academic/literary expeditions of a host of other prominent French writers: Alphonse Lamartine (1832), Gustave Flaubert (1849) and Ernest Renan (1867) to name a few.
Nevertheless, Venieu was quick to point out that, again contrary to common knowledge, the French interest in Egypt and the Orient did not go beyond the travelogues and literary works of French tourists. "In Paris, eminent scholars gathered around the podiums of instruction, in the Sorbonne, La College de France, the School of Higher Sciences and the School of Oriental Languages and engaged in the exhaustive study of Arab philosophers and poets, through which efforts they began to fathom the spirit and dynamism of Arab thought."
The French in particular were simultaneously keen to stress their efforts to strengthen the ties between Egypt and the Latin world, from the Napoleonic expedition onwards. An article in La Volentà, sent to Al-Ahram from its correspondent in Paris, hailed the influence that French thinkers and writers had in stimulating the Egyptian cultural revival. The author also stressed the importance of the French School in Cairo and the influence French literature and culture had in the development of the legal system "and, indeed, on all aspects of life in Egypt".
At the time of the conference there were still French officials in the employ of the Egyptian government. To one French newspaper, these officials epitomised the spirit of Franco-Egyptian relations: "They have cast aside all consideration of personal gain and influence in their pursuit of furthering Franco-Egyptian cooperation and the close coordination of efforts towards helping the resurgence of the Egyptian people who had reached the pinnacle of civilisation at a time when the rest of the world was immersed in the darkness of ignorance and who, today, are seeking to revive that tradition."
It is always comforting that Egyptians, however seriously they take such international conferences hosted in their country, are nevertheless prepared for an element of humour. We find this on the fringes of Al-Ahram's coverage of the event in 1932 under the headline, "The impact of the Latin Languages Press Conference on Women's Fashion". The article featured five photographs of models clad in especially designed garments, each bearing a name significant to Egypt and Egyptian culture. The "Champollion" -- "the famous archeologist after whom was named the ship bearing the participants in the conference to Egypt" -- was also given to an evening jacket with a blue fox fur collar. Heliopolis, "the city of the desert and golden sands" was represented by a woman sporting a "yellow silk overcoat, with broad shoulders and tapered at the waist". A second evening jacket -- the "Cairo" -- was made of a blend of silk and wool and modelled by a statuesque woman representing the graceful minarets of the Egyptian capital. Luxor, "the city of temples whose lofty columns reach to the sky", was embodied in an evening gown made of crêpe de chine. Lastly, there was the "Aswan" -- "the city of the reservoir, the dam and the abundant waters that roar through its gates" -- epitomised in a blue silk jacket with large metal buttons worn over a taffeta gown. Such garments, Al-Ahram remarked, were an excellent form of propaganda for the country, "because they will be worn by beautiful women in receptions and public forums, on the streets and in the parks, carrying the name of Egypt wherever they go".
The conference of the Latin-language press drew to a successful close, strengthening an important part in the bridge between Egypt and the countries lying to the north of the Mediterranean. Such is the historical solidity of this bridge that there is no reason to fear its ability to withstand any threat, including the Israeli presence in the region. Not only is the link between that presence and Mediterranean civilisation very weak but Israel's objective has always been to impose itself as an entity solely in the Middle East.
* The author is a professor of history and head of Al-Ahram History Studies Centre.
