|
|
|
|
|
Youssef WahbaYoussef Wahba Pasha (also spelled as Yusuf) was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1852 of a prominent Coptic Christian family that participated in founding the Coptic charitable society along with Muslim Ulamas such as Abdallah Nadim and Sheikh Mohammed Abdouh. He translated the Code Napoleon into Arabic and helped create the modern judicial system in Egypt becoming one of the first Egyptian judges in the mixed court of Appeals in 1895. He later became Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1912 in Mohammed Said's cabinet then Minister of Finance, a post he held until May 1920. As Minister of Finance he introduced for the first time in Egypt paper currency to counter the fall in gold supply during WWI. He became Prime Minister of Egypt in 1919 during a difficult period in Egypt's political life. Many members of the Coptic christian community of which he belonged, objected to his accepting the premiership on the grounds that it would antagonize the relationship between Muslims and Christians when both were united to fight against the British occupation. Youssef always maintained the view that it was critical that a government be formed and manage the affairs of the state rather than have the British fully annex Egypt (especially as the victorious powers were carving up the old Ottoman Empire at the Versailles conference). He joined the first independent Senate in 1924 when he was elected to a district in Alexandria. He retired from public life in 1930 and died in Alexandria in 1934. He has two publications on the Commercial Code in Egypt and had drafted the constitution of the Majllis Milli, the first Coptic Christian council to manage the affairs of the Coptic community in Egypt in 1882 outside of the control of the church. Youssef married Doudou El-Nakkadi, and had 9 children. Two of his sons, Mourad Wahba and Sadek Wahba had prominent careers in the judicial and diplomatic services respectively.
|
 |
|
| Copyright 2005-2009 OnPedia.com. All Rights Reserved |
|
|