Mohammad Farid | |
|---|---|
| محمد فريد | |
 Muhammad Farîd | |
| Born | (1868-01-20)January 20, 1868 |
| Died | November 15, 1919(1919-11-15) (aged 51) |
| Nationality | Egyptian |
| Occupation | politician |
| Political party | National Party |
Mohammad Farid (orMuhammad Farîd;Arabic:محمد فريد; January 20, 1868 inCairo – November 15, 1919 inBerlin) was an influentialEgyptian political figure.[1][2] He was a nationalist leader, writer, and lawyer.
Farid was born to an EgyptianUpper class family with distant Turkish descent and strong ties toMuhammad Ali Pasha.[3][4] Farid was the son of the director of el-Da'irah el-Saniyya (Royal state domains administration) and belonged to a landowning family. He attended the Khalil Agha School, theEcole des Freres, and the School of Administration. He worked as a lawyer for the Egyptian government and for the Parquet (office of the attorney general).
He was dismissed for backing Shaykh Ali Yusuf, a popular Egyptian newspaper editor who was tried for publishing secret telegrams taken from the War Ministry. Farid proceeded to open his own law office.
Farid was the main political and financial supporter ofMustafa Kamil, the founder of the Egyptian National Party, and after his premature death in 1908, was elected second president of that party. He led the party inEgypt until March 1912 and then in exile until his death.
He argued that the British must withdraw their army of occupation from Egypt and that only Egypt's monarch, thekhedive, could grant a constitution to theEgyptians. He called for the spread of education and advocated social and economic reforms, especially to benefit workers. At times he sought help from theOttoman Empire (to which the Egyptian khedivate still owed technical fealty), notably while in exile duringWorld War I, but he also suspected theTurks of undermining Egyptian national aims.[5] Farid's occasional support for pan-Islam alienated EgyptianCopts.
Among Egyptians today, Farid is respected for his nationalism, courage, and self-sacrifice. His memoirs have been published in Arabic, and partly in English translation. He also wrote histories of theMuhammad Ali Dynasty, theRoman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire, as well as travel diaries, and numerous articles for local nationalist newspapers.
HistorianFawaz Gerges identifies Farid as exemplifying "the emergence of a politics of exile as a means to sustain the struggle against British colonialism."[6]
Nationalist leader, writer and lawyer. Farid came from a landowning family of Turkish origin.
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