Prominent Egyptian Journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal Passes Away

On the morning of Wednesday, February 28, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, a prominent Egyptian journalist with international fame, passed away. According to the Asharq Al-Awsat news agency, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi expressed condolences in a statement, stating: "Egypt today lost a valuable symbol in the world of Egyptian and Arab media, a person who addressed a prolonged period of Egypt's history and the Arab nation in his writings and analyses." Former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser appointed Mohamed Hassanein Heikal as Minister of National Guidance. He authored several bestselling books, including "The Autumn of Fury" and "The Return of the Ayatollah." Heikal dedicated over 70 years of his life to media work. Throughout his career in journalism and politics, he became a close friend of several kings and leaders, including Gamal Abdel Nasser, King Abdullah I of Jordan, Ahmed Ben Bella, the first President of Algeria after the country's independence in 1962, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, and Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic. During this time, Heikal was assigned various media and political positions. When he was Minister of National Guidance, he was also briefly tasked with overseeing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt. Heikal worked as a journalist in several countries, including Iran, which was the subject of his first book titled "Iran on the Volcano." Later, in 1982, he wrote "The Return of the Ayatollah" in English. A turning point in Heikal's journalism career occurred in 1957 when he moved from being the editor of the weekly "Last Hour" to the editorship of the Egyptian newspaper "Al-Ahram." From August 10, 1957, Heikal began writing a weekly article in the famous column "In Plain Language" in the Friday issues of "Al-Ahram," continuing until February 1974 when he left the newspaper at the order of then-President Anwar Sadat. After that, he focused on writing books and articles, becoming one of the world's most famous authors. Mohamed Hassanein Heikal had conversations with most political, cultural, and intellectual figures of the 20th century, including physicist Albert Einstein, Indian politician Jawaharlal Nehru, and British Army General Bernard Law Montgomery. These conversations were published in the book "A New Look at History." Heikal was an advisor to Abdel Nasser until his death in 1970. He wrote books defending Abdel Nasser's plan for Arab unity, including "For Egypt, Not for Nasser." After the 1973 war between Egypt and Israel, a disagreement arose between Heikal and then-President Anwar Sadat. In September 1981, Sadat ordered Heikal's arrest. In this action, 1,536 party opponents and journalists were arrested, remaining in prison until after Sadat's assassination on October 6 of that year. Heikal wrote the book "The Autumn of Fury" about Sadat's presidency, which angered supporters of the former president due to its mention of the skin color of Sadat's mother. Dozens of Heikal's books remain, most of which are historical. "Between Media and Politics" and "Secret Negotiations Between Arabs and Israel" are among them. The three-volume book "Secret Negotiations with Israel" has subtitles for each volume: the first is titled "Myth, Empire, and the Jewish State," the second is "Storms of War and Storms of Peace," and the third is "Peace of Illusions... Oslo – Before and After." Heikal opposed the Oslo peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and wrote a preface for Edward Said's book "Gaza-Jericho... An American Peace." Heikal detailed the intricacies and behind-the-scenes issues of the Arab-Israeli wars in a three-volume book titled "The Thirty-Year War," with subtitles for each volume: the first is "Swiss Files," the second is "1967... The Years of Eruption," and the third is "October 73... Weapons and Politics." At the age of eighty, Mohamed Hassanein Heikal wrote a series of articles titled "Leave of Absence... Prayer and Final Report." Nevertheless, he continued to occasionally write about his experiences in various newspapers and magazines. For several years after that, he produced the television program "With Heikal... Life Experience," which aired on Al Jazeera. In this series, which was broadcast on Fridays, Heikal spoke about his observations from his years of professional experience, giving each episode a title reflecting the time period in question. The last series prepared and announced for airing by Al Jazeera was about the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. However, the flight of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the President of Tunisia, following the revolution, and the subsequent protests in Egypt that led to the events known as the "Arab Spring" caused this series never to be aired, and the broadcasting of Heikal's programs was completely halted on Al Jazeera. The last television series in which Heikal appeared was "Where is Egypt? Where is Egypt Going?" which began airing in December 2012 on CBC Egypt. In this program, he discussed the political situation in Egypt and the Arab world following the revolutions that took place. Mohamed Hassanein Heikal's wife is Hedayat Timour, whom he married in 1955. They have three children named Ali, Ahmad, and Hassan.