Youssef Wahba
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Youssef Wahba Pasha(1852-1934) Egyptian Prime Minister and jurist.
Youssef Wahba was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1852 of a prominent Coptic family. His father, Wahba Bey had been a founder of the first Coptic charitable society that included Muslim scholars such as Abdallah Nadim and Sheikh Muhammed Abduh. He translated the Code Napoleon into Arabic while at the Ministry of Justice between 1875 and 1882 and participated in setting the modern judicial system in Egypt becoming one of the first Egyptian judges in the mixed court of Appeals in 1894.
He later became Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1912 then Minister of Finance in 1914, a post he held until May 1920. He became Prime Minister of Egypt in 1919 during a difficult period in Egypt's political life. Many members of the Coptic Christian community to which he belonged, objected to his accepting the premiership on the grounds that it would antagonize the relationship between Muslims and Christians when both were united under the Wafd Party to fight against the British occupation. Yusuf always maintained the view that it was critical that a government nominated by the Sultan of Egypt led the country rather than have the British fully annex it (especially as the victorious powers were carving up the old Ottoman Empire at the Versailles conference). He joined the first independent Senate when he was elected from a district in Alexandria in 1924. He retired in 1930.
He has two publications on the Commercial Code in Egypt and had drafted the constitution of the Majllis Milli, the first Coptic Christian council to manage the affairs of the Coptic community in Egypt in 1882 outside of the control of the church.
Yusuf died in 1934. He was married to Doudou daughter of Mikhail Bey El Nakkadi and had eight children. Two of his sons Mourad Wahba Pasha (1879-1972) and Sadek Wahba Pasha(1885-1971) had prominent careers in the Egyptian judicial system and the diplomatic service respectively.
[edit] References
- Annual Records of the Coptic Charitable Foundation, (1929).
- Journal Officiel (Official Gazette), various issues relating to nomination dates (1912,1914,1916,1919,1920)
- Proceedings of the Egyptian Senate, (1923)
- Zaghloul, Saad (1985) Muzakirat Saad Zaghloul (Political Memoirs of Saad Zaghloul), General Egyptian Book Organization,
- Goldsmith, Arthur (2005) Re-Envisioning Egypt 1919-1952, The American University in Cairo Press
- Public Records Office, British Government Kew Gardens (see reference on Youssef Wahba, Mourad Wahba, Sadek Wahba)
- Daly, Martin (1999) Cambridge History of Egypt:volume 2: Modern Egypt, Cambridge University Press
