Memory of a nation

Obituary: Saad Fakhri Abdel-Nour (1921-2003)

Saad Fakhri Abdel- Nour, secretary- general of the Wafd Party, died on 15 May at the age of 82. Named after Saad Zaghloul -- the historic Wafd Party leader and architect of the 1919 Revolution -- Abdel-Nour was born into a wealthy Wafdist family in the southern city of Sohag. Abdel- Nour's father was a close associate of Zaghloul's and a Wafdist member of parliament from 1924 (when Egypt's first parliament was assembled) until his death in 1942.

Abdel-Nour received a law degree in 1942 from King Fouad (now Cairo) University, after which he travelled to France for post-graduate studies. After earning diplomas in law and economics, he returned to Cairo and began practicing law in 1947. In 1951, he became a member of the Wafd Association, the party's steering committee.

After 1952, most of the Abdel-Nour family's property and agricultural land was confiscated. Like many Wafdists at the time, he was also imprisoned -- once, from 1961-1962, and again in 1967 -- for opposing President Gamal Abdel-Nasser and the 1952 Revolution.

In 1978, Abdel-Nour helped Wafd leader Fouad Serageddin stage the party's comeback, after which Abdel- Nour became a member of the party's higher committee. He was also a candidate in the 1994 parliamentary elections, but failed to secure a seat. In 1995, following the death of Ibrahim Farag, Serageddin appointed Abdel-Nour the Wafd's fifth secretary-general.

Abdel-Nour -- who was famous for having a remarkable memory, able to recount events in modern Egyptian history as if they had just occurred -- lived between Egypt and France, where much of his family also resides.

Abdel-Nour is survived by a son and daughter. His funeral took place on Saturday at the Coptic Cathedral in Abbasiya, with the service conducted by Youth Bishop Moussa and Pope Shenouda's secretary Bishop Yu'anas, on behalf of the Pope. The ceremony was attended by prominent figures such as Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, Shura Council speaker Mustafa Kamal Helmi and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi.

Although a Wafdist source told the Weekly that "it is not an appropriate time to discuss who will succeed Saad Fakhry Abdel-Nour as secretary-general," some observers strongly speculate that Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Nour, the nephew of the deceased, and a Wafdist MP and businessman, is a strong candidate. "It will be a long time before anyone takes over the post," the source said.

Shaden Shehab

Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 22 - 28 May 2003 (Issue No. 639)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/639/eg2.htm