Salama Musa Moussa campaigned against traditional religions and urged the Egyptian society to embrace European thought, he espoused the theory of evolution by natural selection.
22 Facts About Salama Musa
2.
Salama Musa was an advocate of liberalism and a supporter of the Egyptian liberal movement.
3.
Salama Musa Moussa joined al-Wafd party after Saad Zaghloul became the leader, he believed it to be essentially a call to independence.
4.
Salama Musa looked for political and economic independence of Egypt from the British occupation.
5.
Salama Musa popularised the idea of socialism in Egypt and advocated egalitarian socialism.
6.
Salama Musa was jailed in 1946 for criticizing the monarchy.
7.
Salama Musa Moussa emphasized the unity of the Egyptians, he praised Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed for "paving the way for the revolution of 1919 by uniting the Egyptian nation on a national stance".
8.
Salama Musa Moussa was born in 1887 into a Coptic family in a village called Kafr al-Afi near Zagazig, Egypt.
9.
Salama Musa's family is originally from a small village called el-Baiadeye, in Asyut, Upper Egypt.
10.
Salama Musa's father died when Salama Moussa was still a young child, leaving the family an inheritance that allowed them to live comfortably.
11.
Salama Musa Moussa attended a Muslim kuttab, a Coptic school, and a government school, then in 1903 he moved to Cairo to receive a secondary education.
12.
In 1913, Salama Musa Moussa returned to Egypt and started his first weekly magazine, Al-Mustaqbal, with Farah Antun and Yaqub Sarruf on topics such as evolution, national unity, and socialism.
13.
Salama Musa spent a brief stint as editor for the social affairs ministry.
14.
Salama Musa Moussa remained an important figure during this period and was appointed supervisor of the science section in Akhbar el-Yom, a position that he held until his death in 1958.
15.
Salama Musa criticized the status of Egyptian women amongst both Christian and Muslim Egyptians, and called for the improvement of their role in Egyptian life.
16.
Salama Musa stated that none of his sisters were educated, and they were all forced to stay home at age 10.
17.
Salama Musa Moussa supported workers' and peasants' rights, supported an improved working environment, and called for reforms in public education.
18.
Salama Musa was one of the Egyptian intellectuals that called for the Egyptian dialect to be taught as the official language.
19.
Salama Musa Moussa looked for political and economic independence of Egypt from the British occupation, to this end he corresponded with Gandhi who provided him with his tools of economic struggle against the British hegemony over the Indian textile industry.
20.
Salama Musa Moussa wanted Egypt to embrace European thought and to abandon religious traditions and customs.
21.
Salama Musa's writings are still influential in Egypt and are frequently cited.
22.
Salama Musa Moussa became seriously ill and died on 4 August 1958, a few months after turning 71.