LUTFI AS-SAYYID, AHMAD

born Jan. 15, 1872, Egypt died March 5, 1963, Egypt journalist and lawyer, a leading spokesman for Egyptian modernism in the first half of the 20th century. Lutfi studied law and accepted a job in the legal department of the central government. In March 1907 he founded a newspaper, al-Jaridah, to present the views of the Ummah Party, representing the moderate wing of Egyptian nationalism. With the advent of World War I (191418), British authorities in Egypt imposed a rigid censorship, and Lutfi resigned his position as editor of al-Jaridah. At the end of the war he served on an Egyptian delegation that negotiated with Britain for the end of the British occupation of Egypt. Bickering among the various Egyptian factions during these talks hardened Lutfi's determination to avoid direct political involvement, and he concerned himself instead with the needs of the people and the affairs of the University of Cairo. In Lutfi's view Egypt suffered from a deficiency in national character, most notably evidenced in the servility of the people before governmental authority. He believed that the root of the problem lay in the fact that Egypt had always had an autocratic government, which encouraged a low level of social and political independence. He thus wanted to train the public to bear the responsibilities of government. He favoured the liberation of women from their traditional inferior status in Islamic society, and he advocated the assimilation of the technical progress of Western civilization. He also sought for remedies in the education of the population, from the peasant to the urban bureaucrat. Until his retirement in 1942 Lutfi devoted his energies to encouraging Egyptian social and moral growth.