Mahmoud Hafez, a pioneering Egyptian scientist in entomology, was an example to follow in achieving cognitive integration between science and literature, so he combined the presidency of the Egyptian Scientific Academy and the Arabic Language Academy in Cairo.

He was called the Sheikh of the Scholars and the Grandfather of the Professors. He was born in 1912 in Egypt, and he died a few days before he turned 100, on December 23, 2011.

Mahmoud Hafez participated in the establishment of scientific bodies and specialized departments, chaired several scientific societies, held many academic positions, and left scientific contributions and a broad knowledge heritage in the fields of entomology and linguistics.

He worked hard to refute the claim that the Arabic language could not accommodate modern science, and he believed that the Arabic language, in its comprehensiveness and richness, accommodates all kinds of knowledge.

Birth and upbringing

Mahmoud Hafez Ibrahim Donia was born on January 10, 1912 in Faraskur, Damietta Governorate, Egypt.

He grew up in an ancient family known for the struggle against the British occupation, and his father, Hafez Ibrahim, led an armed popular resistance movement against the occupation in conjunction with the 1919 revolution, for which he sold all his 35 acres of land, and the revolutionaries appointed him king of Faraskur and the northern Delta after announcing what was known as the "Kingdom of Faraskur". .

Mahmoud's uncles were among the Shari'a judges, so he memorized the Holy Qur'an at an early age and studied religious sciences and read in literature and poetry, which earned him the integrity of the tongue, and strengthened in himself the love of the Arabic language and its importance as an essential element of the components of the nation and the Arab personality, and this prompted him to pay attention to the field of Arabization of sciences, And the integration between language and science.

From a young age, he loved collecting brightly colored insects, especially butterflies, which his teacher, Muhammad Hamed, taught him how to catch and spread their wings. He used to go with his classmates in the elementary school to a small village called "Kafr Abu Udmah" to collect these insects, which changed the course of his scientific life later.

Mahmoud Hafez's father led an armed popular resistance movement against the occupation in conjunction with the 1919 revolution (Egyptian press)

Scientific study and training

In his childhood, Mahmoud Hafez joined Faraskour Book to memorize the Noble Qur’an, and he received his primary education at Faraskur Elementary School.

In 1920, his father enrolled him in the Damietta Religious Institute, on the advice of his uncles, to study religious sciences and complete the memorization of the Noble Qur’an.

After obtaining the primary certificate with distinction, his mother determined to enroll him in Saidia Secondary School in Giza Governorate, and it was one of the largest and most important secondary schools in Egypt at that time, and joining it was not easy.

His mother submitted a request to enroll him in the internal department for free, due to the lack of funds after his father spent his property on national work, so he was accepted into the school and joined it in 1926.

Mahmoud Hafez enjoyed the attention and admiration of his teachers because of his fluent tongue, mastery of the Arabic language, and reading the Holy Qur’an, and his great ability to memorize poetry.

After completing his high school studies, and obtaining a "baccalaureate" with a total score of 91%, and despite his clear superiority in literary subjects, Hafez enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine for only 3 months before moving to the Faculty of Science at Fouad I University (its name was later changed to Cairo University), at the request of The president of the university at the time, Ahmed Lotfi Al-Sayed.

Hafez graduated from the Faculty of Science in 1935 and was appointed as a teaching assistant at the faculty. In 1937 he traveled to England to complete his studies, and in 1940 he obtained a Ph.

After the end of World War II in 1945, he returned to England and completed his in-depth studies in the field of insects at Cambridge University for two years, after which he returned to the Faculty of Science in Egypt.

Mahmoud Hafez contributed to the establishment of the Department of Entomology at the Faculty of Science at Cairo University in 1948 (Shutterstock)

Jobs and responsibilities

During his busy career, Hafez held several official and academic positions. In 1953 he assumed the chairmanship of the Department of Entomology at the Faculty of Science at Cairo University, and he became an agent for the faculty in 1964. In 1968 he was appointed as an agent for the Ministry of Scientific Research, and he returned again to head the insect department at the Faculty of Science and continued in his position until 1973.

In 1977, Hafez's official relationship with the Scientific Academy (one of the oldest scientific bodies in Cairo and established in 1798 by decision of Napoleon Bonaparte) began, where he was chosen as a member of the Scientific Academy, then as Vice-President of the Academy in 1996, before assuming the presidency of the Academy in 2005, until his death at the end of 2011. .

In a parallel context, Hafez was involved in the activities of the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo, where he cooperated with a member of the Academy, Nazir Bey, in translating some terms into Arabic in 1956, before he was chosen as an expert in the Academy in 1964.

For many years, Hafez participated in the various committees of the Academy before he was unanimously elected in 1996 as Vice-President of the Academy. After the death of the writer and linguist Shawqi Dhaif in 2005, Hafez was elected as his successor to head the Arabic Language Academy, and he became the first scholar to occupy the presidency in the history of the Academy, which includes the elite. Linguists.

In addition to bringing together the pioneering Egyptian scientist between the presidency of the Scientific Academy and the Arabic Language Academy, Hafez headed scientific and research bodies and associations such as the Federation of Arab Scientific Linguistic Academies, the Egyptian Society for the History of Science, the Egyptian Society of Entomology, the Egyptian Scientific Union, the National Committee for Biological Sciences at the Academy of Scientific Research, the Egyptian Society for Parasitology, and the Egyptian Academy for Culture. Scientific.

Hafez was a member of the National Council for Education and Scientific Research and the Council of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology.

At the international level, the Egyptian scientist obtained membership in several scientific academies such as the Islamic Academy of Sciences in Jordan, the African Academy of Sciences in Kenya, and the Third World Academy of Sciences in Italy, along with the Russian, American, and Royal Entomology Societies in London, and the International Union of Biological Sciences in Paris. Adviser to the International World Health Organization on the issue of disease-carrying insects.

During the period (1935-1952) he assumed the position of Secretary-General of the Islamic Guidance Association, which was headed by Sheikh Muhammad al-Khudari Hussein, who later became Sheikh of Al-Azhar.

Contributions between science and literature

Mahmoud Hafez played an important role in establishing scientific departments specialized in several fields, as he contributed to the establishment of the Department of Entomology at the Faculty of Science at Cairo University in 1948, and he participated in the establishment of the Insect Museum in the college in 1952, which is the second largest museum of its kind in the world, and includes about 70 A thousand samples of more than 4 thousand species of insects.

He also contributed to the establishment of the Department of Pests and Plant Protection at the National Research Center in Egypt in 1956, and the Human Research Unit at the Regional Center for Radioisotopes in the Arab Countries.

Mahmoud Hafez participated in more than 50 international conferences in the fields of biological sciences, insects, pest control and the history of science.

Despite his involvement in the scientific field and his clear superiority in it, his love for literature and the Arabic language did not diminish, or his contributions in this field stopped, as he believed that science and literature are indispensable for anyone involved in science or literature, so they did not separate throughout his scientific and practical career.

He conducted dozens of studies on scientific dictionaries and Arabization of sciences, and participated in the translation and localization of thousands of terms in various scientific disciplines, through the biology, agriculture, chemistry, pharmacy and oil committees of the Arabic Language Academy.

He believed that the Arabic language was facing a fierce war that must be addressed, and he repeatedly warned of the weakness of the new generations' relationship with the Arabic language in light of the growing number of foreign schools, which he described as a "big catastrophe" due to the absence of the Arabic language from their curricula, and called for the establishment of a national organization concerned with translating sciences.

Mahmoud Hafez held the position of President of the Egyptian Scientific Academy in 2005 until his death in 2011 (social networking sites)

His most important works

Mahmoud Hafez has authored, translated and reviewed nearly 17 books on insect and animal sciences, including:

  • General zoology.

  • Animal anatomy.

  • Foundations of zoology.

  • The section on zoology in the Arabic Scientific Encyclopedia.

  • Insects section in Franklin's Accessible Encyclopedia.

  • Contribution to the book History and Evolution of Insects in Egypt.

  • Participate in translating some scientific dictionaries.

  • Dozens of research papers published in various scientific journals.

On the linguistic side, in addition to participating in specialized scientific linguistic dictionaries, many of his lectures on the Arabic language and science were published in the Arabic Language Academy magazine, including:

  • The Arabic language in the service of biology.

  • Academy of the Arabic language and the language of science.

  • The Arabic language in public and university education institutions and means of promoting them.

  • Translation between the past and the present and its role in transferring science to the Arabic language.

  • Arabization issue in Egypt.

Awards and honors

Due to his dedication to science and his outstanding scientific contributions, Mahmoud Hafez received several awards, including the State Appreciation Prize in Science in 1977, the Medal of Merit of the First Class, and the Gold Medal with a certificate of appreciation from the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology in 1978.

In 1981 he was awarded the Science and Arts Medal of the First Class, and in 1999 he was awarded the Mubarak Prize in Science.

his death

After a lifetime full of scientific achievements, and weeks before he reached the age of 100, in November 2011, Mahmoud Hafez suffered from high blood pressure, which resulted in the stopping of some of his vital organs. Doctors advised him to transfer him to the new Kasr Al-Aini Teaching Hospital.

He spent about 4 weeks in the hospital, and it was said that his health condition worsened after he learned of the burning of the Egyptian Scientific Complex on December 17, 2011.

Only a few days passed until he passed away on December 23, 2011 in Cairo, and thus the curtain fell on the path of a pioneering Egyptian scientist who combined science and literature.