Hussein Sirri Pasha (; 1894–1960) was an Egyptian politician. He served as 25th

Prime Minister of Egypt A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

for three short periods, during which he also served as

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Early life and education

Hussein Sirri was the son of

Ismail Sirri Pasha Isma'il Sirri Pasha (1861–1937) () was an Egyptian engineer and politician. He was Minister of both Public Works and Defence in nine governments between 1908 and 1926. Career Ismail Sirri was born in the province of Al-Minya. He graduated with ...

(1861–1937). He received a degree in civil engineering in Paris.

Career

Sirri Pasha began his career as an engineer at the Ministry of Public Works, and was appointed as minister to the same body in 1937. He was

minister of finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

from 1939 to 1940. Sirri Pasha first served as prime minister from 1940 until 1942, the height of the Axis and Allied confrontation in Egypt's Western Desert in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, which concluded with the

Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian Railway station, railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa ...

. His cabinet was announced on 18 November 1940, and he formed it without having any affiliation with the political parties. In February 1941, the

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

, visited Cairo and met with Sirri. Writing in 1967, he said "We found that political problems are the same the wide world over, and laughed about them." He then wrote that "The great pity was that so good a Prime Minister had to serve under so poor a

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

. Sirri Pasha was... a good administrator, and completely honest." Sirri next served as prime minister from July 1949 until January 1950. His final term was for three weeks in July 1952, amidst a political crisis which culminated in the

Egyptian Revolution of 1952 The Egyptian revolution of 1952, also known as the 1952 coup d'état () and the 23 July Revolution (), was a period of profound political, economic, and societal change in Egypt. On 23 July 1952, the revolution began with the toppling of King ...

, and the abdication of King Farouk.

Personal life

Sirri Pasha was married to the aunt of

Queen Farida Farida (born Safinaz Zulficar 5 September 1921 – 16 October 1988) was the queen of Egypt for nearly eleven years as the first wife of King Farouk. She was the first queen of Egypt since Cleopatra to have left seclusion and played a public r ...

, spouse of King Farouk.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sirry Pasha, Hussein 1894 births 1960 deaths 20th-century prime ministers of Egypt Ministers of finance of Egypt Ministers of foreign affairs of Egypt Egyptian pashas 20th-century Egyptian engineers Egyptian civil engineers Independent politicians in Egypt Public works ministers of Egypt