The Most Famous

POLITICIANS from Egypt

This page contains a list of the greatest Egyptian Politicians. The pantheon dataset contains 19,576 Politicians, 207 of which were born in Egypt. This makes Egypt the birth place of the 15th most number of Politicians behind Poland, and Austria.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Egyptian Politicians of all time. This list of famous Egyptian Politicians is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Egyptian Politicians.

1. Cleopatra (-69 - -30)

With an HPI of 88.41, Cleopatra is the most famous Egyptian Politician. Her biography has been translated into 147 different languages on wikipedia.

Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (Koinē Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Θεά Φιλοπάτωρ lit. 'Cleopatra father-loving goddess'; 70/69 BC – 10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great. Her first language was Koine Greek, and she is the only Ptolemaic ruler known to have learned the Egyptian language. After her death, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the last Hellenistic-period state in the Mediterranean, a period which had lasted since the reign of Alexander (336–323 BC). In 58 BC, Cleopatra presumably accompanied her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, during his exile to Rome after a revolt in Egypt (a Roman client state) allowed his rival daughter Berenice IV to claim his throne. Berenice was killed in 55 BC when Ptolemy returned to Egypt with Roman military assistance. When he died in 51 BC, the joint reign of Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIII began, but a falling-out between them led to an open civil war. After losing the 48 BC Battle of Pharsalus in Greece against his rival Julius Caesar (a Roman dictator and consul) in Caesar's civil war, the Roman statesman Pompey fled to Egypt. Pompey had been a political ally of Ptolemy XII, but Ptolemy XIII, at the urging of his court eunuchs, had Pompey ambushed and killed before Caesar arrived and occupied Alexandria. Caesar then attempted to reconcile the rival Ptolemaic siblings, but Ptolemy's chief adviser, Potheinos, viewed Caesar's terms as favoring Cleopatra, so his forces besieged her and Caesar at the palace. Shortly after the siege was lifted by reinforcements, Ptolemy XIII died in the Battle of the Nile; Cleopatra's half-sister Arsinoe IV was eventually exiled to Ephesus for her role in carrying out the siege. Caesar declared Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XIV joint rulers but maintained a private affair with Cleopatra that produced a son, Caesarion. Cleopatra traveled to Rome as a client queen in 46 and 44 BC, where she stayed at Caesar's villa. After Caesar's assassination, followed shortly afterwards by that of Ptolemy XIV (on Cleopatra's orders), she named Caesarion co-ruler as Ptolemy XV. In the Liberators' civil war of 43–42 BC, Cleopatra sided with the Roman Second Triumvirate formed by Caesar's grandnephew and heir Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. After their meeting at Tarsos in 41 BC, the queen had an affair with Antony which produced three children. He carried out the execution of Arsinoe at her request, and became increasingly reliant on Cleopatra for both funding and military aid during his invasions of the Parthian Empire and the Kingdom of Armenia. The Donations of Alexandria declared their children rulers over various erstwhile territories under Antony's triumviral authority. This event, their marriage, and Antony's divorce of Octavian's sister Octavia Minor led to the final war of the Roman Republic. Octavian engaged in a war of propaganda, forced Antony's allies in the Roman Senate to flee Rome in 32 BC, and declared war on Cleopatra. After defeating Antony and Cleopatra's naval fleet at the 31 BC Battle of Actium, Octavian's forces invaded Egypt in 30 BC and defeated Antony, leading to Antony's suicide. When Cleopatra learned that Octavian planned to bring her to his Roman triumphal procession, she killed herself by poisoning, contrary to the popular belief that she was bitten by an asp. Cleopatra's legacy survives in ancient and modern works of art. Roman historiography and Latin poetry produced a generally critical view of the queen that pervaded later Medieval and Renaissance literature. In the visual arts, her ancient depictions include Roman busts, paintings, and sculptures, cameo carvings and glass, Ptolemaic and Roman coinage, and reliefs. In Renaissance and Baroque art, she was the subject of many works including operas, paintings, poetry, sculptures, and theatrical dramas. She has become a pop culture icon of Egyptomania since the Victorian era, and in modern times, Cleopatra has appeared in the applied and fine arts, burlesque satire, Hollywood films, and brand images for commercial products.

2. Yasser Arafat (1929 - 2004)

With an HPI of 84.34, Yasser Arafat is the 2nd most famous Egyptian Politician. His biography has been translated into 116 different languages.

Yasser Arafat (4 or 24: 269 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004 and president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) from 1994 to 2004. Ideologically an Arab nationalist and a socialist, Arafat was a founding member of the Fatah political party, which he led from 1959 until 2004. Arafat was born to Palestinian parents in Cairo, Egypt, where he spent most of his youth. He studied at the University of King Fuad I. While a student, he embraced Arab nationalist and anti-Zionist ideas. Opposed to the 1948 creation of the State of Israel, he fought alongside the Muslim Brotherhood during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Following the defeat of Arab forces, Arafat returned to Cairo and served as president of the General Union of Palestinian Students from 1952 to 1956. In the latter part of the 1950s, Arafat co-founded Fatah, a paramilitary organization which sought Israel's replacement with a Palestinian state. Fatah operated within several Arab countries, from where it launched attacks on Israeli targets. In the latter part of the 1960s Arafat's profile grew; in 1967 he joined the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and in 1969 was elected chair of the Palestinian National Council (PNC). Fatah's growing presence in Jordan resulted in military clashes with King Hussein's Jordanian government and in the early 1970s it relocated to Lebanon. There, Fatah assisted the Lebanese National Movement during the Lebanese Civil War and continued its attacks on Israel, resulting in the organization becoming a major target of Israeli invasions during the 1978 South Lebanon conflict and 1982 Lebanon War. From 1983 to 1993, Arafat based himself in Tunisia, and began to shift his approach from open conflict with the Israelis to negotiation. In 1988, he acknowledged Israel's right to exist and sought a two-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In 1994, he returned to Palestine, settling in Gaza City and promoting self-governance for the Palestinian territories. He engaged in a series of negotiations with the Israeli government to end the conflict between it and the PLO. These included the Madrid Conference of 1991, the 1993 Oslo Accords and the 2000 Camp David Summit. The success of the negotiations in Oslo led to Arafat being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, alongside Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, in 1994. At the time, Fatah's support among the Palestinians declined with the growth of Hamas and other militant rivals. In late 2004, after effectively being confined within his Ramallah compound for over two years by the Israeli army, Arafat fell into a coma and died. While the cause of Arafat's death has remained the subject of speculation, investigations by Russian and French teams determined no foul play was involved. Arafat remains a controversial figure. Palestinians generally view him as a martyr who symbolized the national aspirations of his people, while many Israelis regarded him as a terrorist. Palestinian rivals, including Islamists and several PLO radicals, frequently denounced him as corrupt or too submissive in his concessions to the Israeli government.

3. Akhenaten (-1400 - -1336)

With an HPI of 83.65, Akhenaten is the 3rd most famous Egyptian Politician. His biography has been translated into 93 different languages.

Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton (Ancient Egyptian: ꜣḫ-n-jtn ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy, pronounced [ˈʔuːχəʔ nə ˈjaːtəj], meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning c. 1353–1336 or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Before the fifth year of his reign, he was known as Amenhotep IV (Ancient Egyptian: jmn-ḥtp, meaning "Amun is satisfied", Hellenized as Amenophis IV). As a pharaoh, Akhenaten is noted for abandoning traditional ancient Egyptian religion of polytheism and introducing Atenism, or worship centered around Aten. The views of Egyptologists differ as to whether the religious policy was absolutely monotheistic, or whether it was monolatristic, syncretistic, or henotheistic. This culture shift away from traditional religion was reversed after his death. Akhenaten's monuments were dismantled and hidden, his statues were destroyed, and his name excluded from lists of rulers compiled by later pharaohs. Traditional religious practice was gradually restored, notably under his close successor Tutankhamun, who changed his name from Tutankhaten early in his reign. When some dozen years later, rulers without clear rights of succession from the Eighteenth Dynasty founded a new dynasty, they discredited Akhenaten and his immediate successors and referred to Akhenaten as "the enemy" or "that criminal" in archival records. Akhenaten was all but lost to history until the late-19th-century discovery of Amarna, or Akhetaten, the new capital city he built for the worship of Aten. Furthermore, in 1907, a mummy that could be Akhenaten's was unearthed from the tomb KV55 in the Valley of the Kings by Edward R. Ayrton. Genetic testing has determined that the man buried in KV55 was Tutankhamun's father, but its identification as Akhenaten has since been questioned. Akhenaten's rediscovery and Flinders Petrie's early excavations at Amarna sparked great public interest in the pharaoh and his queen Nefertiti. He has been described as "enigmatic", "mysterious", "revolutionary", "the greatest idealist of the world", and "the first individual in history", but also as a "heretic", "fanatic", "possibly insane", and "mad". Public and scholarly fascination with Akhenaten comes from his connection with Tutankhamun, the unique style and high quality of the pictorial arts he patronized, and the religion he attempted to establish, foreshadowing monotheism.

4. Hatshepsut (-1507 - -1458)

With an HPI of 79.30, Hatshepsut is the 4th most famous Egyptian Politician. Her biography has been translated into 82 different languages.

Hatshepsut ( haht-SHEPP-sut; c. 1507–1458 BC) was the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Thutmose II and the fifth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, ruling first as regent, then as queen regnant from c. 1479 BC until c. 1458 BC (Low Chronology). She was Egypt's second confirmed queen regnant, the first being Sobekneferu/Nefrusobek in the Twelfth Dynasty. Hatshepsut was the daughter of Thutmose I and Great Royal Wife, Ahmose. Upon the death of her husband and half-brother Thutmose II, she had initially ruled as regent to her stepson, Thutmose III, who inherited the throne at the age of two. Several years into her regency, Hatshepsut assumed the position of pharaoh and adopted the full royal titulary, making her a co-ruler alongside Thutmose III. In order to establish herself in the Egyptian patriarchy, she took on traditionally male roles and was depicted as a male pharaoh, with physically masculine traits and traditionally male garb. Hatshepsut's reign was a period of great prosperity and general peace. One of the most prolific builders in Ancient Egypt, she oversaw large-scale construction projects such as the Karnak Temple Complex, the Red Chapel, the Speos Artemidos and most famously, the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari. Hatshepsut died probably in Year 22 of Thutmose III. Towards the end of the reign of Thutmose III and into the reign of his son Amenhotep II, an attempt was made to remove her from official accounts of Egyptian historiography. Her statues were destroyed, her monuments were defaced, and many of her achievements were ascribed to other pharaohs. Many modern historians attribute this to ritual and religious reasons, rather than personal hostility as previously thought.

5. Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918 - 1970)

With an HPI of 78.97, Gamal Abdel Nasser is the 5th most famous Egyptian Politician. His biography has been translated into 106 different languages.

Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-reaching land reforms the following year. Following a 1954 attempt on his life by a Muslim Brotherhood member, he cracked down on the organization, put President Mohamed Naguib under house arrest and assumed executive office. He was formally elected president in June 1956. Nasser's popularity in Egypt and the Arab world skyrocketed after his nationalization of the Suez Canal Company and his political victory in the subsequent Suez Crisis, known in Egypt as the Tripartite Aggression. Calls for pan-Arab unity under his leadership increased, culminating with the formation of the United Arab Republic with Syria from 1958 to 1961. In 1962, Nasser began a series of major socialist measures and modernization reforms in Egypt. Despite setbacks to his pan-Arabist cause, by 1963 Nasser's supporters gained power in several Arab countries, but he became embroiled in the North Yemen Civil War, and eventually the much larger Arab Cold War. He began his second presidential term in March 1965 after his political opponents were banned from running. Following Egypt's defeat by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967, Nasser resigned, but he returned to office after popular demonstrations called for his reinstatement. By 1968, Nasser had appointed himself prime minister, launched the War of Attrition to regain the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula, began a process of depoliticizing the military, and issued a set of political liberalization reforms. After the conclusion of the 1970 Arab League summit, Nasser suffered a heart attack and died. His funeral in Cairo drew five to six million mourners, and prompted an outpouring of grief across the Arab world. Nasser remains an iconic figure in the Arab world, particularly for his strides towards social justice and Arab unity, his modernization policies, and his anti-imperialist efforts. His presidency also encouraged and coincided with an Egyptian cultural boom, and the launching of large industrial projects, including the Aswan Dam, and Helwan city. Nasser's detractors criticize his authoritarianism, his human rights violations, and the dominance of the military over civil institutions that characterised his tenure, establishing a pattern of military and dictatorial rule in Egypt which has persisted, nearly uninterrupted, to the present day.

6. Anwar Sadat (1918 - 1981)

With an HPI of 78.13, Anwar Sadat is the 6th most famous Egyptian Politician. His biography has been translated into 103 different languages.

Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981. Sadat was a senior member of the Free Officers who overthrew King Farouk I in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and a close confidant of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, under whom he served as Vice President twice and whom he succeeded as president in 1970. In 1978, Sadat and Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel, signed a peace treaty in cooperation with United States President Jimmy Carter, for which they were recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize. In his 11 years as president, he changed Egypt's trajectory, departing from many political and economic tenets of Nasserism, reinstituting a multi-party system, and launching the Infitah economic policy. As President, he led Egypt in the Yom Kippur War of 1973 to regain Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, which Israel had occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967, making him a hero in Egypt and, for a time, the wider Arab World. Afterwards, he engaged in negotiations with Israel, culminating in the Camp David Accords and the Egypt–Israel peace treaty; this won him and Menachem Begin the Nobel Peace Prize, making Sadat the first Muslim Nobel laureate. Although reaction to the treaty—which resulted in the return of Sinai to Egypt—was generally favorable among Egyptians, it was rejected by the country's Muslim Brotherhood and the left, which felt Sadat had abandoned efforts to ensure a State of Palestine. With the exception of Sudan, the Arab world and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) strongly opposed Sadat's efforts to make a separate peace with Israel without prior consultations with the Arab states. His refusal to reconcile with them over the Palestinian issue resulted in Egypt being suspended from the Arab League from 1979 to 1989. The peace treaty was also one of the primary factors that led to his assassination; on 6 October 1981, militants led by Khalid Islambouli opened fire on Sadat with automatic rifles during the 6 October parade in Cairo, killing him.

7. Hosni Mubarak (1928 - 2020)

With an HPI of 77.90, Hosni Mubarak is the 7th most famous Egyptian Politician. His biography has been translated into 116 different languages.

Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (Egyptian Arabic: محمد حسني مبارك‎; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in the Egyptian Air Force. He served as its commander from 1972 to 1975 and rose to the rank of air chief marshal in 1973. In 1975, he was appointed vice president by President Anwar Sadat and assumed the presidency after his assassination in 1981. Mubarak's presidency lasted almost thirty years, making him Egypt's longest-serving ruler since Muhammad Ali Pasha, who ruled the country for 43 years from 1805 to 1848. Less than two weeks after the assassination of President Sadat, Mubarak quickly assumed the presidency in the single-candidate 1981 referendum, and renewed his term through single-candidate referendums in 1987, 1993, and 1999. Under United States pressure, Mubarak held the country's first multi-party election in 2005, which he won. In 1989, he succeeded in reinstating Egypt's membership in the Arab League, which had been frozen since the Camp David Accords with Israel, and in returning the Arab League's headquarters back to Cairo. He was known for his supportive stance on the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, in addition to his role in the Gulf War. Despite providing stability and reasons for economic growth, his rule was repressive. The state of emergency, which had not been lifted since the 1967 war, stifled political opposition, the security services became known for their brutality, and corruption became widespread. Mubarak stepped down during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 after 18 days of demonstrations. On 11 February 2011, then–Vice President Omar Suleiman announced that both he and Mubarak had resigned and transferred authority to the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. On 13 April 2011, a prosecutor ordered Mubarak and his two sons Alaa and Gamal to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power. Mubarak was then ordered to stand trial on charges of negligence for failing to halt the killing of peaceful protesters during the revolution. These trials began on 3 August 2011, making him the first Arab leader to be tried in his own country in an ordinary court of law. On 2 June 2012, an Egyptian court sentenced Mubarak to life imprisonment. After sentencing, he was reported to have suffered a series of health crises. On 13 January 2013, Egypt's Court of Cassation (the nation's high court of appeal) overturned Mubarak's sentence and ordered a retrial. On retrial, Mubarak and his sons were convicted on 9 May 2015 of corruption and given prison sentences. Mubarak was detained in a military hospital while his sons were freed on 12 October 2015 by a Cairo court. Mubarak was acquitted on 2 March 2017 by the Court of Cassation and was released on 24 March 2017. Mubarak died in 2020, aged 91. He was honoured with a state funeral and buried at a family plot outside Cairo. Hosni Mubarak was born on 4 May 1928 in Kafr El-Meselha, Monufia Governorate, Egypt. On 2 February 1949, he left the Military Academy and joined the Air Force Academy, gaining his commission as a pilot officer on 13 March 1950 and eventually receiving a bachelor's degree in aviation sciences. Mubarak served as an Egyptian Air Force officer in various formations and units; he spent two years in a Spitfire fighter squadron. Some time in the 1950s, he returned to the Air Force Academy as an instructor, remaining there until early 1959. From February 1959 to June 1961, Mubarak undertook further training in the Soviet Union, attending a Soviet pilot training school in Moscow and another at Kant Air Base near Bishkek in the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic. Mubarak undertook training on the Ilyushin Il-28 and Tupolev Tu-16 jet bombers. In 1964 he gained a place at the Frunze Military Academy in Moscow. On his return to Egypt, he served as a wing commander, then as a base commander; he commanded the Cairo West Air Base in October 1966 then briefly commanded the Beni Suef Air Base. In November 1967, Mubarak became the Air Force Academy's commander when he was credited with doubling the number of Air Force pilots and navigators during the pre-October War years. Two years later, he became Chief of Staff for the Egyptian Air Force. In 1972, Mubarak became Commander of the Air Force and Egyptian Deputy Minister of Defense. On 6 October 1973, at the breakout of the Yom Kippur War, the Egyptian Air Force launched a surprise attack on Israeli soldiers on the east bank of the Suez Canal. Egyptian pilots hit 90% of their targets, making Mubarak a national hero. The next year he was promoted to Air Chief Marshal in recognition of service during the October War of 1973 against Israel. Mubarak was credited in some publications for Egypt's initial strong performance in the war. The Egyptian analyst Mohamed Hassanein Heikal said the Air Force played a mostly psychological role in the war, providing an inspirational sight for the Egyptian ground troops who carried out the crossing of the Suez Canal, rather than for any military necessity. However Mubarak's influence was also disputed by Shahdan El-Shazli, the daughter of the former Egyptian military Chief of Staff Saad el-Shazly. She said Mubarak exaggerated his role in the 1973 war. In a 2011 interview with the independent Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm, El-Shazli said Mubarak altered documents to take credit from her father for the initial success of the Egyptian forces in 1973. She also said photographs pertaining to the discussions in the military command room were altered and Saad El-Shazli was erased and replaced with Mubarak. She stated she intended to take legal action. In April 1975, President Anwar Sadat appointed Mubarak Vice President of Egypt. In this position, he took part in government consultations that dealt with the future disengagement of forces agreement with Israel. In September 1975, Mubarak went on a mission to Riyadh and Damascus to persuade the Saudi Arabian and Syrian governments to accept the disengagement agreement signed with the Israeli government ("Sinai II"), but was refused a meeting by the Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad. During his meetings with the Saudi government, Mubarak developed a friendship with the nation's powerful Crown Prince Fahd, whom Sadat had refused to meet or contact and who was now seen as a major player who could help mend the failing relationship between Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Mubarak also developed friendships with several other important Arab leaders, including Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud, Oman's Sultan Qaboos, Morocco's King Hassan II, and Sudan's President Jaafar Nimeiry. Sadat also sent Mubarak to numerous meetings with foreign leaders outside the Arab world. Mubarak's political significance as Vice President can be seen from a conversation held on 23 June 1975 between Foreign Minister Fahmy and US Ambassador Hermann Eilts. Fahmy told Eilts that "Mubarak is, for the time being at least, likely to be a regular participant in all sensitive meetings" and he advised the ambassador not to antagonize Mubarak because he was Sadat's personal choice. Though supportive of Sadat's earlier efforts made to bring the Sinai Peninsula back into Egyptian control, Mubarak agreed with the views of various Arab leaders and opposed the Camp David Accords for failing to address other issues relating to the Arab–Israeli conflict. Sadat even transferred his decision-making authority to Mubarak temporarily at times he went on vacations. Mubarak was injured during the assassination of President Sadat in October 1981 by soldiers led by Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli. Following Sadat's death, Mubarak became the fourth president of Egypt. Until Libya's suspension from the Arab League at the beginning of the Libyan Civil War, Egypt was the only state in the history of the organization to have had its membership suspended, because of President Sadat's peace treaty with Israel. In June 1982, Mubarak met King Fahd of Saudi Arabia, which marked a beginning of an Egyptian-Saudi rapprochement. Since Egypt is the most populous Arab country and Saudi Arabia the richest, the Saudi–Egyptian axis was a powerful force in the Arab world. At an Arab League summit later in 1982 in Fez, Saudi Arabia put forward an Egyptian peace plan where in exchange for Israel resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict by allowing a Palestinian state, the entire Arab world would make peace with Israel. The Islamic Republic of Iran had, from 1979 onward, been making the claim to be the leader of the Islamic world, and in particular Ayatollah Khomeini had called for the overthrow of the governments of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Arab states along the southern shores of the Persian Gulf, calling these states illegitimate. The claim of the Ayatollah Khomeini to be the rightful leader of the Islamic world and his attempts to export the Iranian revolution by working to overthrow governments that Khomeini deemed un-Islamic caused profound alarm and fear in the governments that were targeted like Iraq and Saudi Arabia. In the face of the Iranian challenge, the other Arab states looked towards Egypt as an ally. For King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and the other leaders of the Arab Gulf states, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict faded into the background and the main concern was resisting Iranian pretensions to be the leader of the Islamic world, meaning that Egypt could not be ignored. During the Iran–Iraq War from 1980 to 1988, Egypt supported Iraq militarily and economically with one million Egyptians working in Iraq to take the place of Iraqi men serving on the front-line. In December 1983, Mubarak welcomed Yasser Arafat of the PLO to a summit in Cairo, marking a rapprochement with the PLO, and from that time, Egypt became the PLO's main ally. In 1985, the Achille Lauro hijacking caused a major crisis in relations when the U.S Air Force forced an EgyptAir plane carrying the Achille Lauro hijackers to Tunisia to land in Italy; otherwise the plane would have been shot down. Mubarak stated in a press conference on 12 October 1985: "I am very wounded. Now there is coolness and strain as a result of this incident." Egypt had been ostracized by the other Arab states for signing the Camp David Accords in 1979, but Egypt's weight within the Arab world had led to Egypt regaining its "central place in the Arab world" by 1989. In 1989, Egypt was re-admitted as a full member to the Arab League and the League's headquarters were moved to their original location in Cairo. Throughout the 1980s, Mubarak increased the production of affordable housing, clothing, furniture, and medicine. By the time he became President, Mubarak was one of a few Egyptian officials who refused to visit Israel and vowed to take a less enthusiastic approach to normalizing relations with the Israeli government. Under Mubarak, Israeli journalists often wrote about the "cold peace" with Egypt, observing Israeli–Egyptian relations were frosty at best. Mubarak was quick to deny that his policies would result in difficulties for Egyptian–Israeli dealings in the future. The Israeli historian Major Efraim Karsh wrote in 2006 that in Egypt "...numberless articles, scholarly writings, books, cartoons, public statements, and radio and television programs, Jews are painted in the blackest terms imaginable". Karsh accused Mubarak of being personally antisemitic, writing he "evidently shared the premises" of his propaganda. Egypt's heavy dependence on US aid and its hopes for US pressure on Israel for a Palestinian settlement continued under Mubarak. He quietly improved relations with the former Soviet Union. In 1987, Mubarak won an election to a second six-year term. In his early years in power, Mubarak expanded the Egyptian State Security Investigations Service (Mabahith Amn ad-Dawla) and the Central Security Forces (anti-riot and containment forces). According to Tarek Osman, the experience of seeing his predecessor assassinated "right in front of him" and his lengthy military career—which was longer than those of Nasser or Sadat—may have instilled in him more focus and absorption with security than seemed the case with the latter heads of state. Mubarak sought advice and confidence not in leading ministers, senior advisers or leading intellectuals, but from his security chiefs—"interior ministers, army commanders, and the heads of the ultra-influential intelligence services." All through the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, violations of human rights by the security services in Egypt were described as "systematic" by Amnesty International. In 2007, Amnesty International reported that the Egyptian police routinely engaged in "beatings, electric shocks, prolonged suspension by the wrists and ankles in contorted positions, death threats and sexual abuse". The state remained large under Mubarak employing 8 million people out of a population of 75 million. Because of his positions against Islamic fundamentalism and his diplomacy towards Israel, Mubarak was the target of repeated assassination attempts. According to the BBC, Mubarak survived six attempts on his life. In June 1995, there was an alleged assassination attempt involving noxious gases and Egyptian Islamic Jihad while Mubarak was in Ethiopia for a conference of the Organization of African Unity. He was also reportedly injured by a knife-wielding assailant in Port Said in September 1999. Egypt was a member of the allied coalition during the 1991 Gulf War; Egyptian infantry were some of the first to land in Saudi Arabia to remove Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Egypt's participation in the war solidified its central role in the Arab World and brought financial benefits for the Egyptian government. Reports of sums of up to US$20 billion worth of debt forgiveness were published in the news media. According to The Economist: The programme worked like a charm: a textbook case, says the [International Monetary Fund]. In fact, luck was on Hosni Mubarak's side; when the US was hunting for a military alliance to force Iraq out of Kuwait, Egypt's president joined without hesitation. After the war, his reward was that America, the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, and Europe forgave Egypt around $20 billion of debt. President Mubarak spoke out against the 2003 invasion of Iraq, arguing that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict should have been resolved first. He also said the war would cause "100 Bin Ladens". However, as President he did not support an immediate US withdrawal from Iraq because he believed it would probably lead to chaos. President Mubarak was re-elected by majority votes in a referendum for successive terms on four occasions in 1987, 1993, and 1999. Each time, Mubarak secured his position by having himself nominated by Parliament then confirmed without opposition in a referendum. The September 2005 ballot was a multiple-candidate election rather than a referendum, but the electoral institutions and security apparatus remain under the control of the President. On 28 July 2005, Mubarak announced his candidacy. The election was scheduled for 7 September 2005; according to civil organizations that observed the election it was marred by mass rigging activities. In a move widely seen as political persecution, Ayman Nour, a dissident and candidate for the El-Ghad Party ("Tomorrow party") was convicted of forgery and sentenced to five years' hard labor on 24 December 2005. While in office, political corruption in the Mubarak administration's Ministry of the Interior rose dramatically. Political figures and young activists were imprisoned without trial. Illegal, undocumented, hidden detention facilities were established, and universities, mosques, and newspaper staff were rejected because of their political views. In 2005 Freedom House, a non-governmental organization that conducts research into democracy, reported that the Egyptian government under Mubarak expanded bureaucratic regulations, registration requirements, and other controls that often feed corruption. Freedom House said, "corruption remained a significant problem under Mubarak, who promised to do much, but in fact never did anything significant to tackle it effectively". In 2010, Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index report assessed Egypt with a CPI score of 3.1, based on perceptions of the degree of corruption from business people and country analysts, with 10 being very clean and 0 being highly corrupt. Egypt ranked 98th out of the 178 countries included in the report. In February 2011, ABC News reported that experts believed the personal wealth of Mubarak and his family was between US$40 billion and US$70 billion from military contracts made during his time as an air force officer. The Guardian reported that Mubarak and his family might be worth up to US$70 billion garnered from corruption, bribes and legitimate business activities. The money was said to be spread out in various bank accounts, including some in Switzerland and the UK, and invested in foreign property. The newspaper said some of the information about the family's wealth might be ten years old. According to Newsweek, these allegations are poorly substantiated and lack credibility. On 12 February 2011, the government of Switzerland announced it was freezing the Swiss bank accounts of Mubarak and his family. On 20 February 2011, the Egyptian Prosecutor General ordered the freezing of Mubarak's assets and those of his wife Suzanne, his sons Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, and his daughters-in-law Heidi Rasekh and Khadiga Gamal. The Prosecutor General also ordered the Egyptian Foreign Minister to communicate this to other countries where Mubarak and his family could have assets. This order came two days after Egyptian newspapers reported that Mubarak filed his financial statement. Egyptian regulations mandate government officials submit a financial statement listing their assets and sources of income while performing government work. On 21 February 2011, the Egyptian Military Council, which was temporarily given the presidential authorities following the 25 January 2011 revolution, said it had no objection to a trial of Mubarak on charges of corruption. On 23 February 2011, the Egyptian newspaper Eldostor reported that a "knowledgeable source" described the order of the Prosecutor General to freeze Mubarak's assets and the threats of a legal action as nothing but a signal for Mubarak to leave Egypt after a number of attempts were made to encourage him to leave willingly. In February 2011, Voice of America reported that Egypt's top prosecutor had ordered a travel ban and an asset freeze for Mubarak and his family as he considered further action. On 21 May 2014 a Cairo court convicted Mubarak and his sons of embezzling the equivalent of US$17.6 million of state funds which were allocated for renovation and maintenance of presidential palaces but were instead diverted to upgrade private family homes. The court ordered the repayment of US$17.6 million, fined the trio US$2.9 million, and sentenced Mubarak to three years in prison and each of his sons to four years. The National Democratic Party of Egypt continued to state that Hosni Mubarak was to be the party's only candidate in the 2011 Presidential Election. Mubarak said on 1 February 2011 that he had no intention of standing in the 2011 presidential election. When this declaration failed to ease the protests, Mubarak's vice president stated that Gamal Mubarak would not run for president. With the escalation of the demonstration and the fall of Mubarak, Hamdy El-Sayed, a former influential figure in the National Democratic Party, said Gamal Mubarak intended to usurp the presidency, assisted by then Interior Minister, Habib El-Adly. During his presidency, Mubarak upheld the U.S.-brokered Camp David Accords treaty signed between Egypt and Israel in 1978. Mubarak on occasion also hosted meetings relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and made a number of attempts to serve as a broker between them. Mubarak was concerned that Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson did not trust him on the issue and considered meeting him in New York. In October 2000, Mubarak hosted an emergency summit meeting at Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In attendance were: U.S. President Bill Clinton, P.L.O. Chairman Yasser Arafat, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, King Abdullah of Jordan, NATO Sec. General Javier Solana, and U.N. Sec. General Kofi Annan. Mubarak was involved in the Arab League, supporting Arab efforts to achieve a lasting peace in the region. At the Beirut Summit on 28 March 2002, the league adopted the Arab Peace Initiative, a Saudi-inspired plan to end the Arab–Israeli conflict. In 2006, Mubarak condemned the Israeli military attack in Lebanon, but also indirectly criticised Hezbollah for harming Arab interests. In June 2007, Mubarak held a summit meeting at Sharm el-Sheik with King Abdullah II of Jordan, President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. On 19 June 2008, the Egypt-brokered pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas went into effect. According to The New York Times, neither side fully respected the terms of the ceasefire. The agreement required Hamas to end rocket attacks on Israel and to enforce the ceasefire throughout Gaza. In exchange, Hamas expected the blockade to end, commerce in Gaza to resume, and truck shipments to be restored to 2005 levels. Israel tied an easing of the blockade to a reduction in rocket fire and gradually re-opened supply lines and permitted around 90 daily truck shipments to enter Gaza. Hamas criticized Israel for its continued blockade while Israel accused Hamas of continued weapons smuggling via tunnels to Egypt and pointed to continued rocket attacks. In 2009, Mubarak's government banned the Cairo Anti-war Conference, which had criticised his lack of action against Israel. Protests against Mubarak and his regime erupted in Cairo and other Egyptian cities in January 2011. On 1 February, Mubarak announced he would not contest the presidential election due in September. He also promised constitutional reform. This did not satisfy most protesters, who expected Mubarak to depart immediately. The demonstrations continued and on 2 February, violent clashes occurred between pro-Mubarak and anti-Mubarak protesters. On 10 February, contrary to rumours, Mubarak said he would not resign until the September election, though he would be delegating responsibilities to Vice President Omar Suleiman. The next day, Suleiman announced that Mubarak had resigned. The announcement sparked cheers, flag-waving, and celebrations from protesters in Egypt. Discussions about the nation's future direction began. It had been suggested that Egypt be put in the hands of a caretaker government. On 25 January 2011, protests against Mubarak and his government erupted in Cairo and around Egypt calling for Mubarak's resignation. Mubarak stated in a speech that he would not leave, and would die on Egyptian soil. Opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei paid no attention to Mubarak's remarks and labeled it as a trick designed to help Mubarak to stay in power. In a state televised broadcast on 1 February 2011, Mubarak announced that he would not seek re-election in September but would like to finish his current term and promised constitutional reform. This compromise was not acceptable for the protestors and violent demonstrations occurred in front of the Presidential Palace. On 11 February, then Vice President Omar Suleiman announced Mubarak had resigned and that power would be turned over to the Egyptian military. Two and a half hours after Mubarak's resignation, an Egyptian military member came on air and thanked Mubarak for "putting the interests of the country first." The statement, which said "The Supreme Council is currently studying the situation," did not state what the council would do next. Mubarak made no media appearances after his resignation. Except for his family and a close circle of aides, he reportedly refused to talk to anyone—even his supporters. His health was speculated to be rapidly deteriorating; some reports said he was in a coma. Most sources said he was no longer interested in performing any duties and wanted to "die in Sharm El-Sheikh". On 28 February 2011, the General Prosecutor of Egypt issued an order prohibiting Mubarak and his family from leaving Egypt. It was reported that Mubarak was in contact with his lawyer in case of possible criminal charges against him. As a result, Mubarak and his family were placed under house arrest at a presidential palace in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. On 13 April 2011, a prosecutor originally appointed by Mubarak ordered the former president and both his sons to be detained for 15 days of questioning about allegations of corruption and abuse of power amid growing suspicion that the Egyptian military was more aligned with the Mubaraks than with the revolution. Gamal and Alaa were jailed in Tora Prison; state television reported that Mubarak was in police custody in a hospital near his residence following a heart attack. Former Israeli Cabinet minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer told Israeli Radio that he had offered Mubarak refuge in the southern Israeli city of Eilat. On 11 May 2013, he told El-Watan in his first media appearance since his resignation said, "History will judge and I am still certain that the coming generations will view me fairly." He added that President Mohammed Morsi faced a tough time and that it was too early to judge him. On 24 May 2011, Mubarak was ordered to stand trial on charges of premeditated murder of peaceful protesters during the revolution and, if convicted, could face the death penalty. The decision to try Mubarak was made days before a scheduled protest in Tahrir Square. The full list of charges released by the public prosecutor was "intentional murder, attempted killing of some demonstrators ... misuse of influence, deliberately wasting public funds and unlawfully making private financial gains and profits". On 28 May, a Cairo administrative court found Mubarak guilty of damaging the national economy during the protests by shutting down the Internet and telephone services. He was fined LE200 million—about US$33.6 million—which the court ordered he must pay from his personal assets. This was the first court ruling against Mubarak, who would next have to answer to the murder charges. The trial of Hosni Mubarak, his sons Ala'a and Gamal, former interior minister Habib el-Adly and six former top police officials began on 3 August 2011 at a temporary criminal court at the Police Academy in north Cairo. They were charged with corruption and the premeditated killing of peaceful protesters during the mass movement to oust the Mubarak government, the latter of which carries the death penalty. The trial was broadcast on Egyptian television; Mubarak made an unexpected appearance—his first since his resignation. He was taken into the court on a hospital bed and held in a cage for the session. Upon hearing the charges against him, Mubarak pleaded not guilty. Judge Ahmed Refaat adjourned the court, ruling that Mubarak be transferred under continued arrest to the military hospital on the outskirts of Cairo. The second court session scheduled for 15 August. On 15 August, the resumed trial lasted three hours. At the end of the session, Rifaat announced that the third session would take place on 5 September and that the remainder of the proceedings would be off-limits to television cameras. The trial resumed in December 2011 and lasted until January 2012. The defense strategy was that Mubarak never actually resigned, was still president, and thus had immunity. On 2 June 2012, Mubarak was found guilty of not halting the killing of protesters by the Egyptian security forces; he was sentenced to life imprisonment. The court found Mubarak not guilty of ordering the crackdown on Egyptian protesters. All other charges against Mubarak, including profiteering and economic fraud, were dismissed. Mubarak's sons, Habib el-Adly, and six senior police officials were all acquitted for their roles in the killing of demonstrators because of a lack of evidence. According to The Guardian, the relatives of those killed by Mubarak's forces were angered by the verdict. Thousands of demonstrators protested the verdict in Tahrir Square, Arbein Square and Al-Qaed Ibrahim Square. In January 2013, an appeals court overturned Mubarak's life sentence and ordered a retrial. He remained in custody and returned to court on 11 May 2013 for a retrial on charges of complicity in the murder of protesters. On 21 August 2013, a Cairo court ordered his release. Judicial sources confirmed that the court had upheld a petition from Mubarak's longtime lawyer that called for his release. A day later, interim prime minister Hazem El Beblawi ordered that Mubarak be put under house arrest. On 21 May 2014, while awaiting retrial, Mubarak and his sons were convicted on charges of embezzlement; Mubarak was sentenced to three years in prison, while his sons received four-year sentences. The three were fined the equivalent of US$2.9 million, and were ordered to repay US$17.6 million. In November 2014, conspiracy to kill charges were dismissed by the Cairo Criminal Court on a technicality. The court also cleared Mubarak of corruption charges. On 13 January 2015, Egypt's Court of Cassation overturned Mubarak's and his sons' embezzlement charges, the last remaining conviction against him, and ordered a retrial. A retrial on the corruption charges led to a conviction and sentencing to three years in prison in May 2015 for Mubarak, with four-year terms for his sons, Gamal and Alaa. It was not immediately clear whether the sentence would take into account time already served—Mubarak and his sons have already spent more than three years in prison, so potentially will not have to serve any additional time. Supporters of Mubarak jeered the decision when it was announced in a Cairo courtroom on 9 May. The sentence also included a 125 million Egyptian pound (US$16.3 million) fine, and required the return of 21 million embezzled Egyptian pounds (US$2.7 million). These amounts were previously paid after the first trial. Though mostly out of the public eye, Mubarak granted a rare interview in February 2014 with Kuwaiti journalist Fajer Al-Saeed, expressing support for then-Minister of Defense and Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces Abdel Fattah el-Sisi as the next President of Egypt, recognizing that Sisi was working to restore the confidence of the Egyptian people. "The people want Sisi, and the people's will shall prevail," Mubarak noted. Mubarak also expressed great admiration and gratitude towards the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates and his children, for their continuous support of Egypt and its people. However, Mubarak expressed his dislike of opposition politician Hamdeen Sabbahi, a Nasserist following the policies of Gamal Abdel Nasser. In July 2010, the media said Egypt was about to undergo dramatic change because Mubarak was thought to have cancer and because of the scheduled 2011 presidential election. Intelligence sources said he had esophageal cancer, stomach or pancreatic cancer; this was denied by Egyptian authorities. Speculation about his ill health increased after his resignation from the presidency. According to Egyptian media, Mubarak's condition worsened after he went into exile in Sharm el-Sheikh. He was reportedly depressed, refused to take medications, and was slipping in and out of consciousness. According to the source—an unnamed Egyptian security official—"Mubarak wants to be left alone and die in his homeland". The source denied that Mubarak was writing his memoirs, stating that he was almost completely unconscious. After his resignation, Egypt's ambassador to the United States Sameh Shoukry reported that his personal sources said Mubarak "is possibly in somewhat of bad health", while several Egyptian and Saudi Arabian newspapers reported that Mubarak was in a coma and close to death. On 12 April 2011, it was reported that he had been hospitalized after suffering a heart attack during questioning over possible corruption charges. In June 2011, Mubarak's lawyer Farid el-Deeb said his client "has stomach cancer, and the cancer is growing". Mubarak had undergone surgery for the condition in Germany in 2010 and also suffered from circulatory problems with an irregular heart beat. On 13 July 2011, unconfirmed reports stated that Mubarak had slipped into a coma at his residence after giving his final speech, and on 17 July, el-Deeb confirmed the reports. On 26 July 2011, Mubarak was reported to be depressed and refusing solid food while in hospital being treated for a heart condition and in custody awaiting trial. On 2 June 2012, Mubarak was reported as have suffered a health crisis while being transported to prison after his conviction on the charges of complicity in the killing of protestors. Some sources reported he had had a heart attack. Further reports stated that Mubarak's health continued to decline; some said he had to be treated with a defibrillator. On 20 June 2012, as Mubarak's condition continued to decline, state-run media erroneously reported that the former president had been declared "clinically dead", causing widespread confusion. Officials later clarified that Mubarak was in a critical condition. On 27 December 2012, Mubarak was taken from Tora Prison to the Cairo military hospital after falling and breaking a rib. He was released from prison in August 2013. On 19 June 2014, Mubarak slipped in the bathroom at the military hospital in Cairo where he was being held and broke his left leg, also fracturing his left thighbone, requiring surgery. Mubarak was serving a three-year sentence for corruption, and also awaiting retrial regarding the killing of protesters during his regime. At one time, his release was ordered. However, Mubarak had remained at the military hospital since January 2014 due to his ongoing health issues. On 2 March 2017, the Court of Cassation, Egypt's top appeals court, acquitted Mubarak of conspiring in the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising. He was subsequently released on 24 March 2017. Hosni Mubarak died on 25 February 2020, in a Cairo military hospital, at the age of 91. A full-honour state funeral was held for him at the Tantawi Mosque in eastern Cairo, and he was later buried in a cemetery in Heliopolis. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi participated at the funeral and extended his condolences to Mubarak's widow, Suzanne, and his sons Alaa and Gamal; three days of national mourning were subsequently proclaimed. Following his death, President El-Sisi praised Mubarak for his role in the Yom Kippur War but remained silent over his role as president. The government-controlled newspaper Al-Ahram eulogized Mubarak for his military and political career. Hosni Mubarak was married to Suzanne Thabet, with whom he had two sons: Alaa and Gamal. Both sons served four years in Egyptian jail for corruption and were released in 2015. Through his son Alaa, Mubarak has two grandsons, Mohammed and Omar; and through his son Gamal, he has a granddaughter Farida. Mohammed died in 2009 from a cerebral hemorrhage. In April 2016, Alaa Mubarak was named in the Panama Papers as someone with financial interests that intersect with that of Mossack Fonseca, the firm implicated in that scandal. Grand Cordon of the Order of the Republic Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile, 1st class Recipient of the Order of the Sinai Star Honor Star Medal, twice Military Training Medal Brunei: Member of the Family Order of Laila Utama Bulgaria: First Class of the Order of the Balkan Mountains Central African Republic: Grand Officer of the Order of Recognition Democratic Republic of Congo: Grand Officer of the National Order of the Leopard (Zaire) Denmark: Knight of the Order of the Elephant France: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour Germany: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Greece: Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer India: Recipient of the Jawaharlal Nehru Award Indonesia: First Class (Adipurna) of the Star of the Republic of Indonesia, 1st class Pahlavi dynasty: First Class of the Order of Zolfaghar Recipient of the Hamayon Merit Italy: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Japan: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum Kazakhstan: Recipient of the Order of the Golden Eagle Kuwait: Collar of the Order of Mubarak the Great Mali: Grand Cross of the National Order of Mali Mexico: Grand Cross of the Order of the Aztec Eagle Nepal: Member First Class of the Order of the Star of Nepal Niger: Grand Cross of the National Order of Niger North Korea: First Class of the Order of the National Flag Oman: 1st Class of the Order of Oman, civil Recipient of the Civil Order of Oman Palestine: Honor Star Medal Poland: Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Portugal: Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry Saudi Arabia: First Class of the Order of King Abdulaziz Second Class of the Order of King Abdulaziz Excellent Degree South Africa: Grand Officer of the Order of Good Hope Spain: Knight of the Collar of Order of Isabella the Catholic Sudan: Recipient of the Collar of Honour Sweden: Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim Syria: Member First Class of the Order of the Umayyads Knight of the Military Honor Medal Tunisia: Grand Cross of the Order of the Republic Grand Cross of the Order of 7 November 1987 Turkey: First Class of the Order of the State of Republic of Turkey United Kingdom: Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Yugoslavia: Order of the Yugoslav Great Star on 26 February 1984 Amin, Galal. Egypt in the Era of Hosni Mubarak (American University in Cairo Press, 2011), a major scholarly overview Anagondahalli, Deepa. "Prior reputation and the transition from image repair to image makeover: The case of Hosni Mubarak." Public relations review 39.3 (2013): 241–244. Arafat, Alaa Al-Din. Hosni Mubarak and the future of democracy in Egypt (Springer, 2011). Beinin, Joel. "Workers and Egypt's January 25 Revolution." International Labor and Working-Class History 80.1 (2011): 189–196. Brownlee, Jason. "Democratization in the Arab World? The Decline of Pluralism in Mubarak's Egypt." Journal of democracy 13.4 (2002): 6–14. online. Cook, Steven A. The Struggle for Egypt: From Nasser to Tahrir Square (Oxford UP, 2011) Darraj, Susan Muaddi, and Vicki Cox. Hosni Mubarak (Infobase Publishing, 2007). Heiss, Andrew. "The failed management of a dying regime: Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's National Democratic Party, and the January 25 revolution." Journal of Third World Studies 29.1 (2012): 155–171. online Joya, Angela. The Roots of Revolt: A Political Economy of Egypt from Nasser to Mubarak (Cambridge University Press, 2020). Ketchley, Neil. Egypt in a Time of Revolution: Contentious Politics and the Arab Spring (Cambridge UP, 2017) Masoud, Tarek. "The upheavals in Egypt and Tunisia: The road to (and from) Liberation Square." Journal of Democracy 22.3 (2011): 20–34. excerpt Osman, Tarek. Egypt on the brink: from the rise of Nasser to the fall of Mubarak (Yale University Press, 2011) Piazza, Bárbara Azaola. "The foreign policy of post-Mubarak Egypt and the strengthening of relations with Saudi Arabia: balancing between economic vulnerability and regional and regime security." Journal of North African Studies 24.3 (2019): 401–425. online Roccu, Roberto. The political economy of the Egyptian revolution: Mubarak, economic reforms and failed hegemony (Springer, 2013). Rougier, Bernard, and Stéphane Lacroix (eds.) Egypt's Revolutions: Politics, Religion, and Social Movements (Palgrave, 2016) Shama, Nael. Egyptian foreign policy from Mubarak to Morsi: Against the national interest (Routledge, 2013). Sharp, Jeremy M. Egypt: The January 25 Revolution and implications for US foreign policy (Diane Publishing, 2011). Soliman, Samer. The Autumn of Dictatorship: Fiscal Crisis and Political Change in Egypt under Mubarak (Stanford University Press, 2011) Springborg, Robert. Mubarak's Egypt: Fragmentation of the Political Order (Routledge, 2019) Tripp, Charles, and Roger Owen, eds. Egypt under Mubarak (Routledge, 1989). President Mubarak at the Wayback Machine (archived 7 January 2007) at the official Egyptian government site Air Marshal Hosni Mubarak at the official Egyptian Air Force site Appearances on C-SPAN Hosni Mubarak on Charlie Rose Hosni Mubarak at IMDb Hosni Mubarak collected news and commentary at Al Jazeera English Hosni Mubarak collected news and commentary at The Guardian Hosni Mubarak collected news and commentary at The New York Times Hosni Mubarak: The Last Pharaoh Archived 5 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine, slideshow by Life magazine European Parliament Resolution on Egypt's Human Rights Situation, 16 January 2008

8. Amenhotep III (-1403 - -1350)

With an HPI of 77.80, Amenhotep III is the 8th most famous Egyptian Politician. His biography has been translated into 63 different languages.

Amenhotep III (Ancient Egyptian: jmn-ḥtp(.w) Amānəḥūtpū, IPA: [ʔaˌmaːnəʔˈħutpu]; "Amun is satisfied"), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great and Hellenized as Amenophis III, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1386 to 1349 BC, or from June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC, after his father Thutmose IV died. Amenhotep was Thutmose's son by a minor wife, Mutemwiya. His reign was a period of unprecedented prosperity and splendour, when Egypt reached the peak of its artistic and international power, and as such he is considered one of ancient Egypt's greatest pharaohs. When he died in the 38th or 39th year of his reign he was succeeded by his son Amenhotep IV, who later changed his name to Akhenaten.

9. Rudolf Hess (1894 - 1987)

With an HPI of 76.82, Rudolf Hess is the 9th most famous Egyptian Politician. His biography has been translated into 68 different languages.

Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position until 1941, when he flew solo to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate the United Kingdom's exit from the Second World War. He was taken prisoner and eventually convicted of crimes against peace. He was still serving his life sentence at the time of his suicide in 1987. Hess enlisted as an infantryman in the Imperial German Army at the outbreak of World War I. He was wounded several times during the war and was awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd Class, in 1915. Shortly before the war ended, Hess enrolled to train as an aviator, but he saw no action in that role. He left the armed forces in December 1918 with the rank of Leutnant der Reserve. In 1919, Hess enrolled in the University of Munich, where he studied geopolitics under Karl Haushofer, a proponent of the concept of Lebensraum ('living space'), which became one of the pillars of Nazi ideology. Hess joined the Nazi Party on 1 July 1920 and was at Hitler's side on 8 November 1923 for the Beer Hall Putsch, a failed Nazi attempt to seize control of the government of Bavaria. While serving a prison sentence for this attempted coup, he assisted Hitler with Mein Kampf, which became a foundation of the political platform of the Nazi Party. After Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933, Hess was appointed Deputy Führer of the Nazi Party in April. He was elected to the Reichstag in the March elections, was made a Reichsleiter of the Nazi Party in June and in December 1933 he became Minister without Portfolio in Hitler's cabinet. He was also appointed in 1938 to the Cabinet Council and in August 1939 to the Council of Ministers for Defence of the Reich. Hitler decreed on the outbreak of war on 1 September 1939 that Hermann Göring was his official successor, and named Hess as next in line. In addition to appearing on Hitler's behalf at speaking engagements and rallies, Hess signed into law much of the government's legislation, including the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, which stripped the Jews of Germany of their rights in the lead-up to the Holocaust. By the start of the war, Hess was sidelined from most important decisions, and many in Hitler's inner circle thought him to be mad. On 10 May 1941, Hess made a solo flight to Scotland, where he hoped to arrange peace talks with the Duke of Hamilton, whom he believed to be a prominent opponent of the British government's war policy. The British authorities arrested Hess immediately on his arrival and held him in custody until the end of the war, when he was returned to Germany to stand trial at the 1946 Nuremberg trials of major war criminals. During much of his trial, Hess claimed to be suffering from amnesia, but he later admitted to the court that this had been a ruse. The court convicted him of crimes against peace and of conspiracy with other German leaders to commit crimes. He served a life sentence in Spandau Prison; the Soviet Union blocked repeated attempts by family members and prominent politicians to procure his early release. While still in custody as the only prisoner in Spandau, he hanged himself in 1987 at the age of 93. After his death, the prison was demolished to prevent it from becoming a neo-Nazi shrine. His grave, bearing the inscription "Ich hab's gewagt" (I dared it), became a site of regular pilgrimage and demonstrations by Neo-Nazis. In 2011, authorities refused to renew the lease on the gravesite, and his remains were exhumed and cremated and the gravestone destroyed.

10. Khafra (-2550 - -2479)

With an HPI of 75.09, Khafra is the 10th most famous Egyptian Politician. His biography has been translated into 58 different languages.

Khafre ( KA(H)F-ray) or Khafra (Ancient Egyptian: ḫꜥ.f-rꜥ, lit. 'He appears as Ra'), also known as Khephren or Chephren ( KEF-rən; Ancient Greek: Χεφρῆν, romanized: Chephrên), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom. He was the son of Khufu and the successor of Djedefre. According to the ancient historian Manetho, Khafre was followed by king Bikheris, but according to archaeological evidence he was instead followed by king Menkaure. Khafre was the builder who made the second largest pyramid at Giza. The view held by modern Egyptology at large continues to be that the Great Sphinx of Giza was built in approximately 2500 BC for Khafre. Not much is known about Khafre, except from the reports of Herodotus, writing 2,000 years after his life.

People

Pantheon has 218 people classified as Egyptian politicians born between 3500 BC and 1980. Of these 218, 16 (7.34%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Egyptian politicians include Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Mohammed Badie, and Fuad II of Egypt. The most famous deceased Egyptian politicians include Cleopatra, Yasser Arafat, and Akhenaten. As of April 2024, 10 new Egyptian politicians have been added to Pantheon including An-Nasir Hasan, Ali Sabri, and Al-Mustamsik.