Ismail Hussein Chirine ( ar, إسماعيل شيرين; 17 October 1919 – 14 June 1994) was an Egyptian royal diplomat. He served as commander in chief of the Egyptian army. His ancestors had relations to the Muhammad Ali dynasty.

Early life and education

Chirine was born in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

on 17 October 1919 to Hussein Chirine (died 1934) and Princess Amina Bahrouz Fadel (1886–1947). His mother was half Albanian-Egyptian and half Turkish Circassian. parents eventually divorced. His mother married Ali Rateb from Alexandria, and his father married Gulsun Hanem Aflaton. His uncle was the governor of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. From the age of 12, Chirine preferred to live with his aunt Zeinab Chirine, wife of Haidar Pasha. He was educated at Victoria College in Alexandria, Great Chesterfield College and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, Cambridge.

Career

Chirine assumed different public posts in Egypt. When Chirine returned from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

he firstly worked for the Bank El Ahly El Masry. Later he became an officer in the army, where his proficiency in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

was useful during negotiations in the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

, together with Rahmani Bey who later became ambassador to

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Chirine became colonel in the army. He was a member of Egypt's delegation to the

1949 Armistice Agreements The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

. In 1948, he served as secretary of Egyptian delegation to

the United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

. Then he acted as aide-de-champ of King Farouk. In 1949 he served as the press officer for the cabinet. He briefly became defense minister of Egypt just before the Egyptian Revolution in 1952.

Personal life

Chirine married Princess Fawzia, the sister of King Farouk, in March 1949, five months after the Princess's divorce from

the Shah of Iran Iranian monarchism is the advocacy of restoring the monarchy in Iran, which was abolished after the 1979 Revolution. Historical background Iran first became a constitutional monarchy in 1906, but underwent a period of autocracy during the years ...

. The wedding ceremony was held in Koubba Palace. Following the wedding they lived in an estate owned by the Princess in Maadi. They also resided in a villa in

Smouha Smouha ( ar, سموحة) is an upper class neighborhood in Alexandria, Egypt. It is home to the Security Directorate of Alexandria. It is considered one of the civilized districts in Alexandria and have good connection to the other districts. It h ...

. They had two children, Nadia (19 December 1950 – October 2009) and Hussein (born 1955 – died 2016). Their daughter, Nadia, married firstly Egyptian actor Yusuf Shabaan and secondly Mustafa Rashid. He lived the rest of his life in

, tending his property in the South of Egypt and spending summers in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, to allow his wife to meet her eldest daughter, Princess

Shahnaz Pahlavi Shahnaz Pahlavi ( fa, شهناز پهلوی, born 27 October 1940) is the first child of the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and his first wife, Princess Fawzia of Egypt. Early life and education Shahnaz Pahlavi was born in Tehran on 27 ...

Death

Chirine died at the military hospital in Alexandria on 14 June 1994 at the age of 74. He was buried in Cairo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chirine, Ismail 1919 births 1994 deaths Egyptian Muslims Victoria College, Alexandria alumni Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Egyptian people of Circassian descent Defence Ministers of Egypt Egyptian diplomats Egyptian military leaders Egyptian expatriates in the United Kingdom Egyptian expatriates in the United States