Salama Ahmed Salama (1932 – 11 July 2012) was an eminent and well-respected

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 ...

journalist, editor and author. He served as the vice chief editor for ''

Al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' ( ar, الأهرام; ''The Pyramids''), founded on 5 August 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after '' al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majori ...

'' newspapers for 22 years.Salama Ahmed Salama
His book "Journalism on a Hot Tin Roof" was our book club selection for March 2010 and was editor-in-chief of '' Al-Shourouk'' newspaper and the political magazine ''Points of View''. Salama also wrote a number of non-fiction books and served on the board of the Egyptian Journalists' Syndicate. He has been called "perhaps the only Egyptian journalist who commands the respect of his colleagues right across the political spectrum."Inside Egypt: The Land of the Pharaohs on the Brink of a Revolution
- Page 158 and one who has "retained the status of a non-partisan writer, often critical of the government and its policies, yet not a member of the opposition."
He was well known for being highly critical of the Egyptian government.

Personal life and education

He 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 ...

in 1932. His father, an Arabic language teacher, was from Sharqiya in the

Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...

. Salama obtained his BA in philosophy in 1953, and obtained a scholarship to pursue his higher studies in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the late '50s and early '60s, while becoming a foreign correspondent for

Akhbar Al-Yom Akhbar in Arabic () is the plural of ''khabar'' (), meaning ''news'' or, in Classical Arabic, ''reports'' about significant past events. The Arabic term occurs in the titles of many newspapers and other media, and may refer to: Journals Middle ...

. He stayed for four years, returning to Akhbar Al-Yom in 1964 as diplomatic affairs editor. He obtained his MA in journalism from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and came back again when the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...

broke out. He met his wife Juliane in

and they had two married sons, Tarek and Karim, both of whom live in Germany.

Career

He began working at Al-Ahram in 1968 and returned to Europe once more, remaining until 1972, as Al-Ahram's correspondent there. His years spent in Germany in the late '50s and '60s were the best part of his career, and it is there he formed a vision of what it is to be a journalist. He knew what it meant to have a press that is "strong and independent and respected". When he came back to Egypt, he began his weekly foreign policy column, "The Meaning of Events". In 1989 he started his daily column Close Up in dealing not with foreign policy analysis but commentary on everyday life. Salama covered major international and Arab summits and conferences, such as the meetings of the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

, and the US Presidential elections. He interviewed heads of State and leading politicians and is a specialist in German affairs. He was also noted for his writing on urban planning, the environment, and the poor human rights record of Arab governments, his stand in favor of non-governmental organisations and for easing political and administrative restrictions of them. Recently Salama left Al-Ahram after helping form Al-Shourouk in January 2009. Salama wrote a number of non-fiction books including ''Grey Areas'' and ''The New Middle East''. His most recent book, released in February 2009, was called '' Journalism under a Hot Tin Roof''. He was elected to the Egyptian Journalists' Syndicate board and served as a board member for a short time.

References

External links

Salama Ahmed Salama: A Tribute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salama, Salama Ahmed 1932 births 2012 deaths Egyptian journalists University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication alumni