Mostafa Kamel

Mostafa Kamel was a prominent Egyptian figure during the 19th century and the early years of the twentieth century.

Mostafa Kamel was born in Cairo on August 14th 1874. His father was an army officer. Mustafa Kamil was trained as a lawyer at the French law school in Cairo and the Law Faculty at the University of Toulouse in France.

In his struggle for Egypt independence he appealed to the Egyptian people to demand the withdrawal of the British army from occupied Egypt. He also called on Khedive  Abbas to grant constitutional government to his subjects. He was strongly backed by one of Egypt's nobles "Pasha" Mohamed Farid ,who spent his last penny on the Egyptian independence case even after Mustafa's death.

In 1900, Mostafa Kamel founded the newspaper Al-Liwa' ("The Standard") as a platform for his views and utilized his skill as both a journalist and lawyer. His cause was aided by an atrocity known as the Dinshaway Incident (June 1906), in which four peasants were hastily tried and hanged for having assaulted uniformed British officers who were shooting pigeons in their village. He founded the National Party in December 1907, two months before his death. His funeral was the occasion for a massive demonstration of popular grief. He is remembered as a fervent patriot and an articulate advocate of Egyptian independence.

Although he lived for only 34 years he left his marks in Egyptian history as a great figure with unforgettable words taught today in Egyptian schools and quoted by intellectuals.