Mohamed Yusuf (Naguib Youssef Qutb El-Qashlan) Naguib (1901 - 1984)

Born 19 Feb 1901 in Khartoum, Egypt

Husband of Aisha (Labib) Naguib — married 1934 in Egypt

Died 28 Aug 1984 at age 83 in Cairo, Egypt

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Biography

Mohamed (Naguib Youssef Qutb El-Qashlan) Naguib is Notable.

Mohamed (Naguib Youssef Qutb El-Qashlan) Naguib was born in Egypt.

Mohamed Naguib (pronounced here), was an Egyptian revolutionary, who along with Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the two principal leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 that toppled the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Egypt and the independence of Sudan. He twice served as president (June 18, 1953–February 25, 1954 and February 27–November 14, 1954) of Egypt.

Birth and Youth

Mohamed Naguib was born 20 Feb 1901, in Khartoum, Egypt. He was the son Youssef Naguib, a ranking officer of the Egyptian Armed Forces and his wife, Zohra Ahmed Othman. Mohamed was the eldest of nine children.

Mohamed attended secondary and military school at Gordon Memorial College in Khartoum, graduating in 1918. He joined the Egyptian Royal Guard in 1923. In 1927, he became the first Egyptian military officer to obtain a law license. In 1929 he earned a postgraduate degree in political economy, and then another postgraduate degree in civil law in 1931.

Military Service

In December 1931, Mohamed was promoted to the rank of captain. He moved to the border patrol in Arish in 1934 and was part of the military committee that carried out the terms of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936. In Khartoum, he founded a newspaper for the Egyptian Armed Forces in 1937. On 6 May 1938, he was promoted to the rank of major on 6 May 1938, and subsequently achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1944, Mohamed was appointed to the post of regional governor of the Sinai Peninsula. He took on leadership of the mechanized infantry of the Sinai in 1947, and was promoted to brigadier general in 1948.

Mohamed distinguished himself during the Egyptian defeat at the hands of Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, during which he was wounded seven times. For his service he was awarded the first military Star of Fuad as well as the title of Bey. He was also subsequently awarded with the directorship of the Egyptian Military Academy, where he would ultimately encounter the members of the Free Officers Movement.

The Egyptian Revolution of 1952

During his tenure as the director of the Royal Military Academy, Mohamed was introduced to the Free Officers Movement, a group of nationalist army officers fiercely opposed to the continuing presence of British military personnel in Egypt and Sudan and the political role that the United Kingdom had in Egyptian affairs. The movement had been led originally by Gamal Abdel Nasser, and was composed exclusively of servicemen who were all under 35 years of age and from low-income backgrounds. Nasser felt that the movement needed an older officer from a distinguished military background in order to be taken seriously, and invited Mohamed to assume leadership of the movement.

On 23 Jul 1952, the Free Officers launched the revolution with a coup d'état to depose King Farouk. Mohamed was immediately appointed as Commander in Chief of the Army. The next evening, Mohamed met with British diplomat John Hamilton who offered his assurance that the British government supported the abdication of King Farouk, that his government viewed the coup as an internal Egyptian matter, and that the United Kingdom would intervene only if it felt that British lives and property in Egypt were in danger.

The Republic of Egypt

In September, Mohamed was appointed Prime Minister, and a member of the Royal Regent Council, with Nasser serving as the Minister of Interior. Farouk's infant son succeeded him as Fuad II. However, after consolidating their power, the Free Officers quickly moved to implement their long-held plans for abolishing the monarchy. On 18 Jun 1953, almost 11 months after the revolution, the revolutionaries stripped the infant King Fuad II of his title, declared the end of the Kingdom of Egypt and the established the Republic of Egypt with Mohamed assuming the presidency.

With the declaration of the Republic, Mohamed Naguib was sworn in as its first President. It was Mohamed's desire to see a speedy return to constitutional government and he objected to the summary sentences that were passed on various politicians by the Revolutionary Tribunal. When Mohamed began distancing himself from the RCC's land reform decrees and drawing closer to Egypt's established political forces, his relationship with Nasser deteriorated and Nasser resolved to depose him. In late 1953, Nasser accused Mohamed of supporting the recently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and of harboring dictatorial ambitions. In February 1954, Mohamed, while retaining the presidency, resigned as prime minister. But with consolidated support of both civilian and military groups, he was returned to office just eleven days later.

Following an assassination attempt on the life Nasser, however, Mohamed was vaguely implicated. In November 1954, he was removed from office and placed under house arrest, which was eased in 1960. He was released from house arrest in 1971 by President Anwar Sadat.

Marriages and Family

Naguib was married to his first wife for just 40 days, her name is unknown. In 1934, following his divorce from his first wife after being married for only 40 days. Naguib was married to Aisha Labib in 1934. They had four children, sons Farouk, Yusuf and Ali, and a daughter who died in 1951.

Death

Aisha Naguib died in 1971, the same year Mohamed was released from house arrest. One of his sons died two years later in a car accident in Germany. Following his release, Mohamed ceased to play any role in Egyptian politics and lived in relative isolation and obscurity. Mohamed Naguib died 28 Aug 1984, from cirrhosis of the liver in Cairo, Egypt. He was 83 years old.

Sources

• Wikipedia entry for Mohammad Naguib

• Obituary: Mohamed Naguib, The New York Times, 29 Aug 1984.

Acknowledgements

• This profile has been contributed to by the members of the WikiTree 15 Nations Global Tour of 2023