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One of the oldest
universities in Egypt and the region, Cairo University has been,
across its long history a leading outpost of education and cultural
awakening in the country. The campus, located in Giza, covers a
large area on both sides of the Nile River. The University serves
about 160,000 students and has successfully been undertaking its mission of
delivering education, research facilities to Arab and foreign
students, and scientists.
Cairo
University has been crucially important in shaping the national life
of twentieth-century in Egypt. It has educated much of the
political, professional and cultural elite; doctors and lawyers,
novelists and philosophers, bankers and prime ministers have all
studied there.
Founded in 1908 and for many years competing only
with the religious al-Azhar University, the European-inspired Cairo
University quickly became the prime indigenous model for other state
universities in the region and its influence has spread even beyond
the Arab world.
Nasser and Sadat, Kings Fuad and Faruq, nationalist hero Saad
Zaghlul and Nobel Prize winner Najib Mahfuz, all feature prominently in this fascinating history
of Egypt's most important modern educational institution.
by
Donald Malcolm Reid
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