The NileView
The journey of a lawyer with a societal mission and an everlasting impact on his family
I have spent most of my professional career serving a diversified community of students, learners, and knowledge seekers. I have always been motivated by the invaluable impact that awareness, lifelong learning, cultural exposure, and diversity can have on human capital and, subsequently, on the development and growth of society. Over the years, I have had the privilege to work for the government and academia, and I have volunteered to engage with civil society institutions and advised several startups and corporates. The one constant element that never changed was focusing on inspiring the most precious asset in the society, people, and helping them to think entrepreneurially and creatively capitalizing on the opportunities enabled through emerging innovative technologies.
For a society to advance, nothing is more important than to prepare and motivate people, help them excel at what they do, avail the environment that enables them to succeed, and encourage them always to be driven by realizing a scalable and sustainable impact. I believe that society is like a jigsaw puzzle and that everyone is good at something and accordingly can and should contribute by creating value and making a difference. However, everyone needs a chance, an opening to demonstrate what he/she can do for society.
I have been inspired by many influential and extraordinary people throughout my life, including academics, scientists, diplomats, artists, politicians, business leaders, sports figures, friends, and surely family members. They came from diverse backgrounds, fields of interest, cultures, and countries. I have had the opportunity to regularly meet some of them, some I have met only once, and others I knew of or read about, but they still left an everlasting impression.
One of those remarkable figures is my grandfather, Mohamed Ali Kamel Bey (1870-1955). He was a lawyer, entrepreneur, educator, publisher, and poet. Born ninety-five years apart, unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to see him. However, the family connection always works its magic; and the genes factor often becomes in many ways a determining factor in how the next generations think, what they become passionate about, what they pursue in life, and how their character is shaped. He has always been enthused and committed to lifelong learning, diversity, and cultural exposure. Therefore, he sent several of his children to Europe to pursue their studies in the 1920s and 1930s. Some of them went on to earn multiple masters and doctorate degrees in different disciplines when they were well into their 40s, 50s, and 60s. This mindset has further affected the ambitions of the family’s next generations, including mine having earned a master’s degree in Islamic Art and Architecture shortly before turning fifty and eighteen years after completing my PhD in information systems. I believe that my diversified interests in lifelong learning, the impact of entrepreneurial thinking, and the invaluable role of human capital in the development of society were all built-in genetically. They were demonstrated throughout my career, which was primarily focused on helping to build generations of entrepreneurs, business leaders, and agents of change who can transform society.
From the early 1940s to the mid-1950s, a few hundred meters down the street from where I live today lived my grandfather, who, just like me, enjoyed a unique and beautiful Nile view. I do not doubt that he was also inspired by this magnificent waterway, which was the source of millions of people’s lives and livelihoods for centuries and across many countries in Africa. Kamel Bey was born in Cairo on Tuesday, 7 June 1870, at the heart of Egypt’s Belle Epoque. Since he was young, he wanted to become a lawyer, so he pursued his dream, studied at the law school, and graduated in 1892. Following his graduation, he started practicing law, and, in just a few years, he had already begun showing the prospect of ultimate authority in his field. Growing up, he was intrigued by the potential of Egypt’s most precious resource, its youth, both men and women, and how they can effectively contribute to the development of society. Nevertheless, he questioned their pursuit of government jobs and their reluctance to venture into the private sector, mostly owned by Europeans. Therefore, he was determined to do whatever he can to help change that mindset and encourage young Egyptians to be more interested in self-employment, competition, and the world of commerce.
As indicated earlier, Kamel Bey was swiftly building a name as a lawyer. Despite his superiors' attempts to prevent him from leaving his profession, he was determined to lead by example, be a role model for other young Egyptians, and start his own business. Therefore, he quit his job. Subsequently, given his passion for education, lifelong learning, and the importance of knowledge and culture, he studied the market and did some due diligence to establish a bookstore. He realized that most, if not all, of the quality printshops and good bookstores in Cairo, were founded and owned by non-Egyptians.
Consequently, in 1896, he established Dar El-Taraqi. The name that translates to “the house of improvement” was intended to reflect the motto of the bookstore, which was to help people widen their scope and improve intellectually by accessing a wealth of knowledge through a collection of books from across different disciplines. The printshop and the bookstore were located in Abdülaziz street in downtown Cairo, named after the Ottoman Sultan Abdülaziz, to commemorate his visit to Egypt in April 1863.
Three of my grandfather’s close friends were passionate about the printshop and the bookstore project. They shared his vision and became his co-investors and partners. They were Mohamed Talaat Harb Pasha, the renowned economist and industrialist, Saad Zaghloul Pasha, the leader of the Wafd Party and prime minister of Egypt, and Ahmed Rateb Bey a lifetime friend. My grandfather, a perfectionist by nature, wanted Dar El-Taraqi to offer an impeccable service to the community. Accordingly, he bought the best equipment for the printing and the finest material for binding. He used to personally supervise all the details to guarantee that everything was running smoothly and with top quality.
The business was fast-growing until one day in 1899, my grandfather was approached for a book project that would eventually become a game-changer. The book was Qassim Amin Bey’s “Tahrir Al-Mar’ah,” which translates to “the liberation of women.” Given my grandfather’s belief in the invaluable role of people in society, he believed in Amin Bey’s ideas and the potential influence the book might have. Accordingly, it did not take him much time to accept publishing the book despite the controversy it will cause.
Qassim Amin Bey (1865-1908) was one of the founders of the national movement in Egypt. He was a philosopher, reformer, and judge. He advocated for women’s rights. In his book, Amin Bey blamed women’s lack of education as the cause of Egypt’s weakness. He believed that women were the backbone of a robust nationalistic society, and therefore their role should drastically change and be more engaging and active for a better Egypt. It is worth noting that the subject of the book itself at the time was a taboo. Therefore, all other printshops opted not to risk and publish it, given the cultural mindset and beliefs back then. Even Amin Bey himself requested that the book be initially released under the name “fadel masry,” which translates to “a virtuous Egyptian.”
The decision to publish the book tells you a lot about my grandfather and how progressive he was in his thinking and how he believed in the impact of education, culture, knowledge dissemination, the role, and responsibility of women in society, the importance of gender equality and diversity on the community. He always believed that educating only men meant that Egypt could never reach more than half its potential. It was always about doing what he thought is the right thing and how far my grandfather was willing to impact society. Kamel Bey saw that the book project was a unique opportunity to knock on a crucial door that would eventually contribute to realizing such an impact.
During the following weeks, the aftermath of publishing the book created a furious debate among the community. It spurred several opposing reactions from different people, including Mohamed Talaat Harb Pasha. He wrote a response to the book that my grandfather published, which was not well received by Saad Zaghloul Pasha, a huge supporter of Amin Bey, and his ideas, who therefore decided to pull out of the partnership and opted for divestment. Despite the criticism for initially publishing the book and the further consequences for publishing the response, my grandfather was unwilling to deviate from his principles and beliefs. As a lawyer, an entrepreneur, a publisher, and a private business owner, he strongly advocated that all voices be heard. He believed in freedom of speech and expression and that in this case, he had the right to publish anything he saw of use to society with no boundaries.
The book was a timely wake-up call, and, over 120 years ago, it enticed an open debate among the community that went for some time on the invaluable role of women in society. However, unfortunately, publishing the book was the beginning of the end of my grandfather’s relatively short journey as an entrepreneur. At the turn of the 20th century, his courageous decision to take on Amin Bey’s book project had severe implications on the business due to the angry and disapproving reactions of the community and the lack of business opportunities coming his way because of publishing the book. As a result, Kamel Bey incurred massive losses beyond his capabilities, and it is essential to acknowledge that Mohamed Talaat Harb Pasha and Ahmed Rateb Bey helped cover some of those financial losses. Consequently, my grandfather liquidated the business and closed the print shop and the bookstore.
Following his entrepreneurial journey, my grandfather decided to restart his career as a lawyer. He went on practicing law for decades, becoming one of the top lawyers in the country. However, his interest in supporting education as a vehicle to strengthening the society in general and the private sector in specific never stopped. His contributions included introducing civic education into the schools’ curriculum based on an accepted proposal submitted to Ali Maher Pasha (1882-1960), an Egyptian politician who was minister of education, served as chief of the Royal Court and was prime minister of Egypt. Furthermore, given my grandfather’s conviction of the importance of business education, he was the architect behind the idea of establishing commerce and business institutes, eventually becoming the faculties of commerce in different universities. He advocated introducing business education into the curriculum at the school and university levels to encourage young Egyptians to think, aspire, and venture into the private sector. Besides, he lobbied extensively to introduce post-graduate studies at the law school until it was launched.
My grandfather worked hard, was progressive in his thinking, took risks, and always stood by his views and beliefs, and by doing that, he greatly influenced the next generations of his family. There are lessons to learn and knowledge to acquire throughout one’s journey that affect our understanding and exposure. These lessons come through the education we get, experiences we live, observations we make, failures we learn from, successes we build on, and family members who inspire us with their endeavors and legacies. For that, I am a firm believer that one should always look for inspiration to guide one’s journey, and more often than not, it can be found at home because family counts in many ways.
Almost a century after my grandfather started his journey advocating that lifelong learning should be Egypt’s top priority and promoting the significance of building a competitive private sector as the economy’s most important pillar, I followed his footsteps passionately. For over three decades, I have been privileged to have the opportunity to educate and mentor young Egyptians in business and management education to help build an agile and competitive private sector and the next generation of business leaders and change agents.
I profoundly believe in Egypt, its people, history, civilization, cultural heritage, resources, the exceptional fabric of its society, its future, and its unlimited potentials and prospects. For me, Egypt remains uniquely positioned as the land of opportunities, yet so much remains untapped. Like my grandfather a century ago, I dream and aspire that Egypt becomes an intellectual, cultural, economic, and geopolitical powerhouse to be reckoned with in a dynamic and changing world.
About the author: Sherif Kamel is a professor of management, dean of the school of business at The American University in Cairo, and president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.
22 July 2020
Issue #4
Very nicely written .... while I thought I knew everything available on my great grandfather (Talaat Harb) ... I now did learn something new :) .... discovering his association with your grandfather and the bookstore ....
looking at the photos of his daughters as young women (one of them my father's mother) I am still wondering why he wrote what he wrote in his book in response to Qassim Amin ... I guess he became more "liberal" over the years, after extensive travels and maturity ....
Best regards ... Sherif Samy
Quel bel et inspirant article! Merci Kamel pour ce partage! Je suis toujours impressionnée de découvrir la richesse et la beauté des histoires familiales, de constater comment ceux qui nous procèdent nous enrichissent sur des générations et nous influencent profondément! Souvent je me demande comment chacun peut Réussir à transmettre, ne serait ce qu’un peu de son vécu et de ses apprentissages à ses descendants pour leur faire bénéficier du meilleur que la vie permet de comprendre et mesurer? Ta très émouvante histoire familiale est une puissante illustration de la capacité que peut développer chaque homme, par sa trajectoire, son attitude envers les autres, ses motivations, ses choix quotidiens... à marquer durablement ses proches, ceux qui croisent son chemin mais aussi ceux à qui, tout simplement, cette histoire est relatée...
Quelle force celle de l homme que de pouvoir ainsi transmettre à ceux que l’on n’a pas connu! Félicitations Shérif pour ta trajectoire personnelle et professionnelle dans la lignée de la dynamique insufflée par ton grand père!
Constater que cette vision et ce rêve pour l Égypte perdure activement en ses fils est porteur d’espoir!