Mohamed Bey Naguib Youssef Qutb El-Qashlan, known as Mohamed Naguib, was an Egyptian revolutionary, and, along with Gamal Abdel Nasser, one of the two principal leaders of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 that toppled the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, leading to the establishment of the Republic of Egypt, and the independence of Sudan.
30 Facts About Mohamed Naguib
2.
Mohamed Naguib was born on 19 February 1901 in Khartoum, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan to Youssef Naguib and Zohra Ahmed Othman.
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Mohamed Naguib attended secondary and military school at Gordon Memorial College in Khartoum, graduating in 1918.
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In 1927, Mohamed Naguib became the first Egyptian military officer to obtain a law license.
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In December 1931, Mohamed Naguib was promoted to the rank of captain.
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Mohamed Naguib moved to the border patrol in Arish in 1934.
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Mohamed Naguib was part of the military committee that carried out the terms of the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936.
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Mohamed Naguib tendered his resignation in protest following the Abdeen Palace incident of 1942.
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Mohamed Naguib subsequently continued his upward trajectory through the hierarchy of the Egyptian military, achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel and the post of regional governor of the Sinai Peninsula in 1944.
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Mohamed Naguib took on leadership of the mechanized infantry of the Sinai in 1947, and was promoted to brigadier general in 1948.
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Mohamed Naguib performed outstandingly during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, where he was wounded seven times.
12.
Mohamed Naguib was awarded with the directorship of the Egyptian Military Academy, where he would ultimately encounter the members of the Free Officers Movement.
13.
Mohamed Naguib was first introduced to the Free Officers Movement by Abdel Hakim Amer during his tenure as the director of the Royal Military Academy in Cairo.
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Nasser, who like Mohamed Naguib was a veteran of the Arab-Israeli War, felt that the movement needed an older officer from a distinguished military background in order to be taken seriously.
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The highly respected and nationally famous Mohamed Naguib was the obvious choice, and he was invited to assume leadership of the movement.
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Historians have noted that whilst Mohamed Naguib understood his position and duty as being the movement's bona fide leader, the younger Free Officers saw him as a figurehead who would yield to the collective decision-making of the movement, giving Mohamed Naguib a more limited, symbolic role.
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Mohamed Naguib was immediately appointed as Commander in Chief of the Army in order to keep the loyalty of the Armed Forces firmly behind the Revolution.
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Mohamed Naguib's celebrated status as a hero of the Arab-Israeli War, along with his jovial personality and elder statesmen demeanor made him appear as a reassuring figure to the Egyptian public, who had not previously been exposed to Nasser and the other Free Officers.
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The next evening, Mohamed Naguib met with British diplomat John Hamilton.
20.
The prospect of British intervention on behalf of Farouk was the biggest threat to the Revolution, and Hamilton's message to Mohamed Naguib gave the Free Officers the reassurance that they needed to follow through with deposing the King.
21.
Caffery confirmed that Mohamed Naguib was angry at missing the former King's departure.
22.
Ali Maher's government resigned on 7 September 1952, and Mohamed Naguib was appointed prime minister.
23.
When Mohamed Naguib began showing signs of independence from Nasser by distancing himself from the RCC's land reform decrees and drawing closer to Egypt's established political forces, namely the Wafd and the Muslim Brotherhood, Nasser resolved to depose him.
24.
In late 1953, Nasser accused Mohamed Naguib of supporting the recently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and of harboring dictatorial ambitions.
25.
Nasser ultimately won the struggle and managed to force Mohamed Naguib to resign from the presidency of Egypt in November 1954.
26.
Mohamed Naguib was released from house arrest in 1971 by President Anwar Sadat.
27.
Mohamed Naguib was married and had four children, three sons and a daughter.
28.
On 28 August 1984, Mohamed Naguib died from liver cirrhosis in Cairo, Egypt.
29.
Mohamed Naguib had a military funeral that was attended by President Hosni Mubarak.
30.
Shortly before his death in 1984, Mohamed Naguib published his memoirs under the title I Was a President of Egypt.