General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Mahmoud Fehmy (1842/1843 – 1890) 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 ...

army officer,

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

, and Egyptian nationalist, who served as

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

and Chief Engineer to the Egyptian Army in 1882, during the

ʻUrabi revolt The ʻUrabi revolt, also known as the ʻUrabi Revolution ( ar, الثورة العرابية), was a nationalist uprising in Egypt from 1879 to 1882. It was led by and named for Colonel Ahmed ʻUrabi (also spelled Orabi and Arabi) and sought to d ...

. During the 1882 British invasion of Egypt, Fehmy was given responsibility for

military fortifications A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

by the leader of the nationalist government, Ahmed ʻUrabi. In this role, Fehmy oversaw the construction of the Egyptian fortifications at

Kafr El Dawwar Kafr El Dawwar ( ar, كفر الدوار, lit=town of the farm ) is a major industrial city and municipality on the Nile Delta in the Beheira Governorate of northern Egypt. Located approximately 30 km from Alexandria, the municipality h ...

, and those stormed by the British at the

Battle of Tell El Kebir The Battle of Tel El Kebir (often spelled Tel-El-Kebir) was fought on 13 September 1882 at Tell El Kebir in Egypt, 110 km north-north-east of Cairo. An entrenched Egyptian force under the command of Ahmed ʻUrabi was defeated by a British ...

. However, Fehmy did not manage to complete the works at Tell El Kebir, for he was captured by the British at the end of August 1882, while on a walk with a fellow officer. His capture was a serious loss to the Egyptian forces, as Fehmy was widely regarded as a bright and capable officer and engineer. Fehmy was held as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

by the British for the rest of the war. At the end of 1882 he was tried in court alongside ʻUrabi and other nationalist generals, and found guilty of rebellion. Fehmy and his family were deported to

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

alongside 'Urabi and the other prisoners, where Fehmy died in 1890.Wright, ''Tidy Little War'', p. 286.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fehmy, Mahmoud 1890 deaths Egyptian generals People of the 'Urabi revolt Egyptian exiles Egyptian nationalists Egyptian soldiers Year of birth uncertain