personage in Alexandria - Part 2

Prince Omar Tosson ( Egyptian politician & Archaeologist):
activist National, a thinker, a rich and a modest.he born On Sunday 8 September 1872, in Alexandria. Tosson was from the Sultan Muhammad Ali family,his grand father was Said Pasha.Toson was fond of research and exploration in the history of Egypt and Sudan, particularly in the area of the desert. ,he made So many trips to the Western Sahara.

One of the most discoveries his finding for the head of a statue of the Great Alexander in khaleg neama, and the discovery of remnants of the inundated city with water at a depth of five meters Abu Qir Bay in 1933,he has been published a research with photographs in the magazine of the Royal Society of Antiquities in (1934).

Sayed Darwish ( Egyptian composer):He was born in Kom Al-Dikka ,Alexandria on 17 March 1892, one of greatest Arabic composers&singers, his experience of working-class life makes his songs so powerful,his songs&his Egyptian voice expressed the internal anger of all Egypt against the occupation ,he was the voice of all Egyptians ,Darwish's output was prolific, including 26 musicals as well as about 260 songs.

The words of Egypt's national anthem were derived from one of Mustafa Kamel's best-known speeches, which Sayed Darwish set to music. He prepared a song for Saad Zaghlul's return from exile, but died before the nationalist leader's arrival.

According to Philippe Vigreux ("Centralité de la musique Egyptienne",Egypte/Monde arabe 7, 1991, CEDEJ), Darwish also played a crucial role in the adoption of Western techniques in writing music and the increased use of Western instruments, considered more capable of expressing emotion.He died in early age on 15th of September 1923 .and buried in Alexandria .

E(dward) M(organ) Forster ( English novelist):Edward Morgan Forster was born in London on 1 January 1879. He was English author and critic, he gained his fame as a novelist, Forster spent his 46 remaining years publishing mainly short stories and non-fiction. Of his five important novels four appeared before World War I,He worked for a while at the National Gallery then went to Alexandria in 1915 for join the Red Cross service during the the outbreak of world war I; his Alexandria: A History and a Guide was published in 1922 (almost the entire stock was burned) and reprinted in revised form in 1938. In Alexandria he met the Greek poet C.P. Cavafy, and published a selection of his poems in PHARAOS AND PHARILLON (1923).
"to win the respect of people whom I respect... I had better add that I am quite sure I am not a great novelist."..E.M. Forster..

Constantine Peter Cavafy ( Greek poet):

He was born in April 17, 1863 in Alexandria, His father is a wealthy businessman, founder of P. J. Cavafy and Co., an import-export business with offices in London and Alexandria. A prominent member of the Greek community, both he and Cavafy’s mother descend from the Greek upper class in Constantinople.

in 1872–77 his family moved to live in lthey left Alexandria for Liverpool and later London, Constantine attends school in England, where English becomes his primary language,in 1877–82: his family Returned to Alexandria. And set up their household on Ramleh Street. Cavafy continues his studies .

he was Greek poet who developed his own consciously individual style and he became one of the most important figures not only in Greek poetry but in Western poetry as well. He lived most of his life in Alexandria, loved English and French literature, and generally spoke English; even his Greek had a British accent.

Cavafy wrote much, publishing only about 200 poems. His most important poetry was written after his 40th year, and with some justification he called himself a "poet of old age." ,He is well-known to English readers from the many references to his work in Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet. Cavafy's poems were first published without date before World War II and reprinted in 1949. An English translation, The Poems of C.P. Cavafy, appeared in 1951…he died in April 29, 1933, Alexandria- Egypt.
and his house in Alexandria has been turned into a museum for the poet.

Mario Rossi ( Italian architect):

Italian-born Rossi (1897-1961) was one of the most prolific mosque builders the first half of this century. A student of the Scuela di Belle Arte in Rome, Rossi came to Egypt in 1921 as an assistant decorator at the invitation of Ernesto Verucci Bey when the latter was till Chief Court Architect and responsible for many of the changes and additions to Abdine Palace. Eventually, Rossi became his own master taking on individual assignments from the Ministry of Public Works as well as from Moustafa Fahmy who had taken over Verucci Bey's post. Another source of contracts was the Wakf Administration where Rossi became its Chief Architect.

Besides the mosque of Omar Makram, Rossi's other works include al-Fouli mosque in Minieh, Al-Ka'ed Ibrahim Mosque & Mursi abu il Abbas mosque in Alexandria, and the Zamalek mosque (across the Nile from the Balloon Theater). He also took part in the restoration of the Mohammad Ali mosque in the citadel and the Rifa'a mosque on Citadel Square.

Omar Sharif( Egyptian actor):

International film star whose exotic looks and soft-spoken manner made him something of a Gentleman symbol for years,Omar Sharif was born on 10th of April,1932..in Alexandria city….he studied mathematics and physics and worked in his family's lumber business before landing a part in an Egyptian film, beginning a career that would make him his country's top movie star.

It was the part of T. E. Lawrence's friend Ali in David Lean's epic Lawrence of Arabia (1962) that won him worldwide fame and snagged him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He followed with Lean's Doctor Zhivago (1965, at his most charismatic in the title role), More Than a Miracle (1967),and Che! (also 1969, in the title role), but his romantic appeal had waned by the 1970s and after starring performances in The Last Valley (1971),He has worked in TV, appearing in telefilms and miniseries.

Demis Roussos ( Greek singer) :

Date of birth 15 June 1947, he was born in Alexandria, and graduated in Greek school in Alexandria ,then his parents moved to live in Ismailiya..then he moved to live in USA.and became the most famous Greek singer .

personage in Alexandria - Part 1

Many of important personages have passed by Alexandria , some were born in this land or lived here ,some of them just made their decision to spend the rest of their life in this great City.And here we share some of their achievements & unique touch they left on this city :

Alexander the great :

He was born on 356 B.C. He was born in Pella the ancient capital of Macedonia, he was the son of Philip II, king of Macedonia, His tutor was Aristotle, who trained him in literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine and philosophy.

In the summer of 336 B.C. his father was assassinated and he ascended to the Macedainian throne,In 332 BC, Alexander of Macedonia, the Great, marched into Egypt , During his voyage to Zeus Ammon at the oasis of Siwa in the Libyan Desert, he stopped at a spot on opposite to the island of Pharos. ..he liked this spot and gave an order to the architect” Dinocrates of Rhodes”, to start founding his new city but he had no chance to see the town. He left before the first stone was laid, heading east to further victories and eventual death at Babylon “Iraq"…but Alexandria was named after the Macedonian general Alexander the Great…and he was buried in royal Soma(cemetery) in Alexandria(still his tomb is not found yet)

Cleopatra (69-30 BC), queen of Egypt (51-30 BC), celebrated for her love affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. In 51 BC, on the death of her father, King Ptolemy XII Auletes, Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII succeeded jointly to the throne. In the third year of their reign Ptolemy drove Cleopatra into exile. Roman general Julius Caesar arrived in Alexandria, became Cleopatra's lover, and returned her to the throne, after which Cleopatra lived in Rome as Caesar's mistress. After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, Cleopatra returned to Egypt. Roman general Mark Antony then fell in love with Cleopatra and moved to Egypt. Later Antony returned to Rome, where he married Octavia, a sister of Caesar's heir, Octavian, later Emperor Augustus. When Antony went to the East as commander of an expedition against the Parthians in 36 BC, he and Cleopatra reunited. Following Antony's victory over the Parthians, Antony and Cleopatra lived in Egypt until 32 BC, when Octavian declared war against them. Following the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, Cleopatra and Antony fled to Alexandria, where they both committed suicide,wrongly Some historians titled Cleopatra’s reign as “ last pharaoh period”,but Cleopatra was not Pharaoh,she was Ptolemaic Queen and had no kinship with ancient Egyptian…although she kept on wearing as a pharaoh queen.

St. Mark: the traditional author of the second Synoptic Gospel, is said to have been preaching in Alexandria in the mid-1st century AD.St. Mark was a young man who grew up in a wealthy Jewish family. and they lived in Jerusalem. At an early age, Mark came under the influence of Christianity, and his home was often used as a meeting place for the early Christians.

In the very earliest years of the Church, there were no Church buildings like we have today. Because of persecution, and various state laws, Christians were often not allowed to meet in public. So they couldn't build their own buildings until around the year 250 - over 200 years after the Church had started. And so, they would often meet in various homes out of necessity, and St. Mark's home became one of these.

St. Mark later went on to travel with the Apostle Peter. He also wrote the first of the four Gospels that we have in the New Testament - the Gospel According to St. Mark. he moved to the city of Alexandria in Egypt, and that he was actually the first teacher of Christianity in Egypt.

On April 25, in the year 68 A.D., Mark was taken by a mob of people and dragged through the rocky streets of Alexandria until he died. He suffered much, and died as a martyr. His body was eventually sent to what is now the famous St. Mark's Church in Venice, Italy.

El-Mursi Abu-El-Abbas ( Spanish Muslim scholar) :

He was originally from Murcia, Spain, which was then part of the Islamic Empire. He settled down in Alexandria ,His mosque is the largest mosque in the city and it is distinguished for its high minaret and four domes. The mosque was originally built In 1775 by his Algerian students,it was built over the tomb of the thirteenth century Andalusan saint Ahmed Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi ,then in 1943 the mosque has been re-designed and rebuilt(by an Italian architect Mario Rossi) by adding 4 domes and the towering (73 meter) minaret..., The interior is made up of eight monolithic granite columns and a colonnade of elongated arches, the Mosque illustrates the sophistication of Andalusian Islamic architecture.

Churchill :
Churcill used to stay in the most famous hotels in Alexandria” the Cecil Hote” which was built in 1920,where Winston Churchill and Smerset Maugham have stayed. Also one of its suites was permanently reserved for the British Secret Service.,Inside the Cecil is Monty's Bar, named after Field Marshal Montgomery, a resident of the hotel during the desert campaign against Rommel.
Churchill mentioned that Alexandria has the best climate that he really enjoyed than in any other place he visited in the whole world.

Queen Sophia( Queen of Spain) :
She studied in the English Girls' College (EGC) in Alexandria's Shatby district ... Queen Sophia is the Honorary President of the Old EGCians.

Khufu's boat -Barca di Cheope

The Khufu ship is an intact full-size vessel from Ancient Egypt that was sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid complex at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2,500 BC. The ship was almost certainly built for Khufu (King Cheops), the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.


La barca solare di Cheope è una delle imbarcazioni più antiche del mondo.Fu scoperta dagli archeologi Egiziani nel 1954 nella piana di El-Ghiza, in una fossa sul lato sud della Grande piramide. Racchiusa in una camera ermeticamente sigillata, la barca era scomposta in 1224 pezzi, il cui legno si è conservato intatto per più di 4600 anni.

Per ricostruirla sono occorsi 13 anni. Lunga circa 43 metri, ha cinque remi per lato più due a poppa, con funzione di timoni e, dal 1982, è esposta in un museo creato appositamente a fianco della Grande piramide e progettato dall'architetto italiano Franco Minissi.

Alamein -World War II

About two hours from Alexandria, Egypt, tourists can visit one of the most important battlefields and memorials of World War II in North Africa.65 years ago, the final battle took place between Axis and Allied forces for dominance of North Africa. The winner would control the Suez Canal - the sea route from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean - and much of the Middle East.

Many Young soldiers died from both sides…for what …!! I don't know,for a passion of politicians wanted to expand their empires on dead bodies…. Maybe ..or for what!!!??

Today, the Alamein is mostly a port facility for shipping oil. However, it was once described by Churchill as having the best climate in the world. There are several hotels and a beach resort nearby). There is also a war museum with collectibles from the Battle of El Alamein and other North African battles. The only historical interest in this village would be related to WW II, and includes an Italian and German military cemeteries on Tell el-Eisa Hill just outside of town.

Cemeteries that commemorate the battles and the men → Italian, German, British, Canadian, New Zealand, South African, Australian, Egyptian, and others→ who served and died here.

*El Alamein World War II Military Museum:

The museum was opened in the year 1956, during the presidency of Gamal Abdel Nasser.It was built as a memorial of the Battle of Al Alamein , between the British and the Germans in 1942, and the battles that took place in South Africa during the Second World War.

Al-Alemein War Museum was renewed and reopened in 1992, during the presidency of Mubarak. The museum is one of the best places to visit in order
to achieve an understanding of the story of World War II in Egypt .

A tour of the small military museum begins outside, with displays of tanks, aircraft, jeeps, mines, and other armaments and wrecks from World War II's North African campaign,Inside the El-Alamein Museum, a low-tech diorama of
North Africa shows the various campaigns. A tape recording tells the story with scratchy old music of World War II newsreels, while flashing lights identify the regions on the map.

1- El Alamein Commonwealth war graves:

These graves were erected in honor of the Allied (This includes soldiers from any country or race who fought as part of the allied army) soldiers who died in the battle of Alamein, they still hold memorial service every year by the families of these soldiers.

2-The British Cemetery :

Most of the soldiers were British 8th Army led by General Montgomery. The Battle began on October 23, 1942 and lasted until November 4th. In all, 35,476 British and Commonwealth soldiers lost their lives in the three years of the North African campaigns of WW II.

3-The German Cemetery :

The German Cemetery is a fortress-like memorial that was built on a high hill overlooking the sea… it was Erected by the German government in memory of the German soldiers who died at the battle of Alamein, this is an interesting piece of architecture, there is an awesome view when you go right to the top. Most of the soldiers buried here are German Afrika Korps lead by General Erwin Rommel . In all, 21,994 German soldiers lost their lives in the three years of the North African campaigns of WW II.

4-The Italian Cemetery at El Alamein:

The Italian Cemetery is a high tower fort standing on a tall hill, with walls covered in marble.Most of the soldiers buried here are Italian from the 10th, 20th and 21st Italian Army Corps lead by General Erwin Rommel. In all, 22,569 Italian soldiers lost their lives in the three years of the North African campaigns of WW II.

El Alamein -seconda guerra mondiale

El Alamein (arabo: al-‘Alamayn), che in arabo significa due bandiere, è una città del Governatorato di Matruh, nel nord dell'Egitto sul mar Mediterraneo, a ovest di Alessandria d'Egitto.

Sino alla fine del XX secolo la località è stata principalmente un porto utilizzato per il trasporto di petrolio. Successivamente, con lo sviluppo turistico che ha interessato tutta la costa settentrionale dell'Egitto, anche ad El Alamein sono sorti impianti alberghieri e attrezzature per il turismo incluso il villaggio turistico di Marina El Alamein , che si affaccia su 11 km di spiaggia ed è affiancato da un porto turistico realizzato nel 2005.

*Storia* :El Alamein ebbe un ruolo di storica importanza nel corso della seconda guerra mondiale. La zona è stata teatro di due importanti battaglie:• la prima battaglia di El Alamein (1º luglio - 27 luglio 1942). Il 1º luglio Erwin Rommel attaccò la linea difensiva britannica che però resistette. Il giorno successivo il comandante britannico, il generale Claude Auchinleck, contrattaccò ma non ottenne successo. Si sviluppò quindi una situazione di stallo cui seguì una fase di logoramento fra attacchi e contrattacchi, nessuno dei quali decisivo, e che si protrasse fino alla fine di luglio senza nessun chiaro vincitore. Tuttavia, se sul campo Rommel non aveva perso, dal punto di vista strategico la fermata dell'offensiva delle truppe dell'Asse verso l'Egitto si può sicuramente giudicare come un successo britannico.

• la seconda battaglia di El Alamein (23 ottobre - 4 novembre 1942). Il 23 ottobre 1942 le truppe britanniche, sotto il comando del generale Bernard Montgomery, sferrarono un poderoso attacco su El Alamein. Le forze di Rommel, molto inferiori di numero, inizialmente riuscirono a contenere, seppure a stento, gli attacchi britannici. Nei giorni successivi, vi furono numerosi attacchi e contrattacchi che non portarono a risultati apprezzabili. Tuttavia, a seguito di tali attacchi e della estrema lunghezza delle linee logistiche italo-tedesche, le forze di Rommel si erano gravemente assottigliate, al punto che alla fine di ottobre la forza effettiva di carri a disposizione dell'Asse era ridotta a sole 102 unità.

Il 4 novembre Rommel dovette ordinare il ritiro. Il 6 novembre le forze dell'Asse, non più in grado di opporre resistenza organizzata, iniziarono una ritirata che segno` una svolta della guerra. Winston Churchill commento`: "Ora, questa non è la fine, non è nemmeno l'inizio della fine. Ma è forse la fine dell'inizio".

*Turismo*:
El Alamein offre il classico turismo balneare che vede nel citato villaggio di Marina El Alamein il suo punto di attrazione principale; accanto a questo villaggio, diverse catene alberghiere europee e americane hanno realizzato vari hotel e villaggi turistici lungo la costa del Mediterraneo che da El Alamein va verso Alessandria. Oltre che al turismo marino, i flussi turistici sono legati agli eventi storici della seconda guerra mondiale: nei dintorni di El Alamein sono stati edificati diversi Sacrari a ricordo dei caduti durante le battaglie combattute in quei luoghi.
I principali sacrari sono tre:

• il Sacrario Militare Italiano di El Alamein, che ospita le spoglie di circa 5.200 caduti italiani e Ascari libici.

• il Cimitero del Commonwealth, con le tombe dei soldati dai vari paesi che hanno combattuto dal lato britannico. Vi sono monumenti che commemorano le forze australiane, sudafricane, greche e della Nuova Zelanda. Il cimitero del Commonwealth, come molti altri simili cimiteri, consiste in file parallele di lapidi, ciascuna con inciso l'emblema dell'unità del soldato defunto, il suo nome e un epitaffio.

• il Sacrario Tedesco, un ossario contenente i resti di 4.200 soldati tedeschi, è costruito nello stile di una fortezza medioevale.
Oltre a tali cimiteri monumentali, El Alamein ospita un museo locale della Seconda Guerra Mondiale che espone diversi tipi di carri armati, blindati, cannoni ed aerei impiegati nelle battaglie del nordafrica dai diversi eserciti combattenti.