The departure of the oldest reporter in Egypt, a lover of languages and railways
Falkhard Wendorf ... the "German Nazarene" who interviewed Dayan ... and Zamil Ahmed Ibn Bella
Findfor met Arafat.
Der Spiegel
..And met Sadat and accompanied him to Jerusalem.
Der Spiegel
Findfour during his meeting with Gaddafi.
Der Spiegel
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Last Monday, the dean of foreign correspondents in Egypt and the correspondent of Der Spiegel magazine, Volckhard Weindfour, passed away at the age of 83, of which he spent more than 60 years in Cairo, through which he was able to weave a network of Egyptian, Arab and international relations, and covered historical events in the region, such as The tripartite aggression against Egypt in 1956, the 1967 aggression, the October 1973 war, and the Algerian revolution, as it covered the civil war in Lebanon in 1975, when he was kidnapped there, and also covered the events of the January 25, 2011 and June 30, 2013 revolutions in Egypt, and Vindfoor held dialogues with influential personalities. Among the political leaders, such as Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat, Yasser Arafat, Muammar Gaddafi, and with the "Nobel" holder, the great writer Naguib Mahfouz.
Extreme loss
Windfur came to Egypt in 1955 as a boy after the death of his father, and enrolled in the German school, then obtained the Egyptian high school to enter the Faculty of Arts, Department of Oriental Languages, Ain Shams University, to study the Hebrew, Persian and Turkish languages, in addition to his German, English and French proficiency. And Arabic.
Vindfour worked in the Arab section of the Egyptian radio, and he joined the Algerian leader Ahmed Ben Bella, and he got acquainted with the journalist Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, who introduced him in turn to Abdel Nasser, and who did not deny that Vindfour was impressed with his personality to the extent that he said in a press interview that he did not mind calling him - that is, to Vindfour - the title « The German Nazarene ».
Windfoor worked for a while as a translator for the Egyptian leader, then director of the office of "Der Spiegel" magazine in Beirut, where he was kidnapped there, then returned to Cairo and found the "Foreign Correspondents Association" which he held until his death.
Feinford's friend, Egyptologist and Acting Italian Consul in Egypt, Francis Amin, told Emirates Today, "The departure of Vindor represents a grave loss for Egypt, which he loved sincerely, and recommended his burial there, and he was associated with historical events and transformations, which became part of his personal experience." .
Get close to history
Amin added that "Vindfour approached the ancient Egyptian history and covered a huge event, which is the transfer of the monuments of Nubia that are threatened with drowning after the start of the construction of the High Dam, specifically the transfer of the Temple of Kalabsha, and its press coverage was part of the causes of interest in the West and world public opinion in it."
He continued, “The great late met Moshe Dayan, after the October War of 1973, on board a plane, and took the opportunity to hold a dialogue with him, and he quoted him, as he told me, that Dayan said that Egypt could have continued the path of war if it wanted after October, after it made a real shift. In its army during and after the war of attrition, and until it waged the October War, but Sadat chose peace with a firm conviction.
Findfur had accompanied Sadat on his trip to Jerusalem in 1977, and had a long dialogue with him after the visit, and had another dialogue with him four days before his assassination in October 1981.
Simple personality
Amin said that Vendor, whom he met in a historical symposium, and their acquaintance developed into friendship: “His character was simple, it was rare for him to respond to someone who wanted to conduct a dialogue with him, and he used to offer his experiences, knowledge and help with all the goodwill to dozens of young foreign journalists who came to work. Press coverage in Egypt, transiently or continuously.
The Egyptian “State Information Service”, which is the authority entrusted with dealing with foreign correspondents in Egypt, described the departure of Vindefor, as the head of the authority, the head of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, Diaa Rashwan, described him as - meaning Findfor “the model of the media person committed to professionalism and credibility over the course of his long work in Egypt, where he worked diligently to convey the facts without falsification or exaggeration.
It is noteworthy that Vindfoor, who married an Egyptian woman who accompanied him until her death, was known for his special interest in the railways, as he founded the "Association of Arab Railways Friends in Egypt" in 1994, and organized through this association a phosphate train trip from the oases of Kharga to the Red Sea coast in the carriages of the King of Egypt. Ferrous.
- His personality was characterized by simplicity, as it was rare for him to respond to someone who wanted to conduct a dialogue with him, and he used to comfortably offer his experiences, knowledge and help to dozens of young foreign journalists who came to report in Egypt, either transiently or continuously.
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