Mourad Wahba Pasha (1879-1972) was an Egyptian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and high court judge. He served as Vice President of the Court of Cassation, then Egypt's highest court from 1931-1937 after which he was appointed as Minister of Agriculture in 1937 and Minister of Trade and Industry in 1938. He was then appointed as senator from 1939 to 1945. He also served in the Board of Directors of various companies and was a leading figure in

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

communal affairs.

Biography

Mourad Wahba was born in

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 ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

in 1879, the son of Youssef Wahba Pasha former

prime minister of Egypt The prime minister of Egypt () is the head of the Egyptian government. A direct translation of the Arabic-language title is "Minister-President of Egypt" and "President of the Government". The Arabic title can also be translated as "President of ...

and grandson of Wahba Bey Youssef founder of the first Coptic charitable society. Wahba was educated in Cairo at the

College de la Sainte Famille A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

, a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

School where

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Pierre Teilhard de Chardin ( (); 1 May 1881 – 10 April 1955) was a French Jesuit priest, scientist, paleontologist, theologian, philosopher and teacher. He was Darwinian in outlook and the author of several influential theological and philos ...

taught for many years. He obtained his law degree from the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and pursued a lifetime career in the Egyptian judicial system, serving as a judge on the Native Court of Appeals and then becoming a counsellor on the first Court of Cassation, the highest court in Egypt, from 1931 to 1937. He was highly respected and appreciated by all

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

as an objective and unassuming judge that gave much credibility to the new Court of Cassation. One of his most famous opinion pieces was on the subject of the revocation of press censorship imposed by the government of Ismail Sidqi Pasha, then prime minister of Egypt. It is said that he was personally appointed Minister of Agriculture by King Farouk I in 1937 under Muhammad Mahmoud Pasha's Cabinet and in 1938 as Minister of Trade and Industry. Although he was reportedly disappointed by the appointment since it would force him to resign as judge on the Court of Cassation, which as Vice President of the Court, he was expected to lead after the retirement of then-President Abdel Aziz Fahmi Pasha. His appointment as Minister of Agriculture may have been to avoid having a

Copt Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christians, Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since Ancient history, antiqui ...

as president of the highest judicial authority in Egypt, a predominantly

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

country. During his tenure as Minister of Agriculture, he inaugurated the Cairo Agricultural Museum, the largest museum at the time devoted to agriculture since Ancient Egypt. He was appointed a senator in 1939 until 1945 and played an important role in Coptic communal affairs serving on the Majlis Milli for several years. He was one of the major shareholders of the Compagnie de Ciment Portland in Egypt founded with the Swiss cement group Holderbank as well as a member of the board of directors of

Banque Misr Banque Misr ( ar, بنك مصر) is an Egyptian bank co-founded by industrialist Joseph Aslan Cattaui Pasha and economist Talaat Harb Pasha in 1920. The government of the United Arab Republic nationalized the bank in 1960. The bank has branch ...

and resigned after the 1952 revolution. He died in Cairo in 1972.

Personal life

He was married to Victoria Ibrahim, daughter of Khalil Ibrahim Pasha, one of the largest landowners in Egypt who had built

Our Lady of Zeitoun Our Lady of Zeitoun, also known simply as El-Zeitoun, Zeitun or rarely Our Lady of Light, was a mass Marian apparition that was reported to have occurred in the Zeitoun district of Cairo, Egypt, during a period of about 3 years beginning on 2 Apr ...

Church in Cairo, which is believed to be the site of various apparitions of Virgin Mary in the 1960s.Otto Meinardus, ''Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity'', The American University in Cairo, 2010 He had one child, Magdi Wahba.

References

External links

arc.sci.eg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wahba, Mourad 1878 births 1972 deaths Politicians from Cairo Judges from Cairo Agriculture Ministers of Egypt Businesspeople from Cairo Egyptian Copts Collège de la Sainte Famille alumni Egyptian pashas Trade and Industry ministers of Egypt