Hussein Al Shafei

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hussein Al Shafei

Vice President of Egypt
In office 1961 – 1975
President	Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat
Succeeded by	Hosni Mubarak

Born	February 2, 1918 Tanta, Egypt
Died	November 11, 2005 Cairo, Egypt
Religion	Muslim

Hussein Mahmoud Hassan Al Shafei,(Arabic: حسين محمود حسن الشافعي‎), also known as Hussein Al-Shafei (b. February 2, 1918, Tanta; d. November 14, 2005), was a member of Egypt's July, 1952 revolutionary leadership council and that country's former vice-president. He was one of the nine men who had constituted themselves as the committee of the Free Officers Movement, led the country's cavalry corps during the uprising and was one of only three living members of the Revolutionary Command Council at the time of his death.

Born in 1918, Al Shafei graduated from the Egyptian Military Academy in 1938. He was appointed minister of war in 1954 and served as Egypt's minister of labor and social affairs during Egypt's merger with Syria. He served as vice-president under Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1961.

During his tenure as minister of social affairs, Al Shafei introduced social insurance reforms considered radical at the time, including pensions to widows. His Winter Charity campaign provided Egypt's poor with basic necessities. Major Egyptian artistic figures took part in the "mercy trains" which delivered the goods, including actress Faten Hamama.

Anwar Sadat appointed Al Shafei as vice-president of Egypt's new government in 1971 and was succeeded by Hosni Mubarak in 1975.

Mubarak was among the senior officials at Al Shafei's state funeral.