Ahmed Abu Ismail (1915–2013) was an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

economist and politician who served as minister of finance in the 1970s.

Early life and education

Ismail was born in

Samannud Samannud ( ar, سمنود ) is a city (''markaz'') located in Gharbia Governorate, Egypt. Known in classical antiquity as Sebennytos ( grc-gre, Σεβέννυτος), Samannud is a historic city that has been inhabited since the Ancient Egyptian ...

in March 1915. He hailed from a wealthy middle-class family. He attended the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

and obtained a PhD in

transport economics Transport economics is a branch of economics founded in 1959 by American economist John R. Meyer that deals with the allocation of resources within the transport sector. It has strong links to civil engineering. Transport economics differs from ...

in 1938.

Career

Following his graduation Ismail worked at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and returned to Egypt in 1948. Then he worked at an Egyptian university. He established the college of commerce of

Kuwait University Kuwait University ( ar, جامعة الكويت, abbreviated as Kuniv) is a public university located in Kuwait City, Kuwait. History Kuwait University (KU), (in Arabic: جامعة الكويت), was established in October 1966 under Act N. 29 ...

in 1968. Ismail supported a liberal economy approach and harshly criticized the inefficiency of the Egyptian

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

. Although Ismail acted as the leader of opponents of the public economy policy implemented by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-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 ...

, he was appointed finance minister on 16 April 1975, replacing Mohammed Hamdi El Nashar in the post. Ismail's tenure ended on 19 November 1976 when he was dismissed due to his opposition over the policies imposed by the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

. The Economy Minister Zaki Shafei was also removed from the office on the same date due to the same reason. Mohammed Salah Eldeen Hamid became finance minister replacing Ismail in the post. Then Ismail was named as the head of the

Far East Bank Far East Bank was a bank in Hong Kong which has since merged into Bank of East Asia. Far East Bank was founded in 1959 by Mr. Deacon Chiu (), the founder of Far East Holdings. It started as a qianzhuang (native bank) in Tsuen Wan by collecting ...

in Cairo and served at the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

as a member of the

New Wafd Party The New Wafd Party ( ar, حزب الوفد الجديد, , New Delegation Party), officially the Egyptian Wafd Party and also known as the Al-Wafd Party, is a nationalist liberal party in Egypt. It is the extension of one of the oldest and his ...

Death and legacy

Ismail died in May 2013 and buried in his hometown, Samannud. A district in Sammannud was named after him in September 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ismail, Ahmed Abu 20th-century Egyptian economists 1915 births 2013 deaths Finance Ministers of Egypt Alumni of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of London Kuwait University faculty Members of the Parliament of Egypt New Wafd Party politicians People from Gharbia Governorate Liberalism in Egypt