clicking on above picture will take you to Georgia State University's mapping and demographic project of Zamalek

Overbuilt north side of Zamalek Island with patch of green in the middle all that remains of the Gezira Club

Up until WW2 the name 'Zamalek' was secondary to 'Gezirah' (also spelt Gezireh or Gezira) when referring to the fertile island linked to the mainland by Kasr el Nil Bridge. But what did in fact officially bear the appellation Zamalek was the small iron bridge linking Zamalek's midsection to the then-fertile expanse of Giza.

Likewise, the street bisecting Gezirah's waist so to speak was called Avenue Zamalek. By mid century it became the island's qasaba--commercial lifeline, with a Cairo-Pyramids tramway line running through it. Avenue Zamalek would later change its name to Avenue Fouad before becoming 26th of July Avenue after 1952.

The name Zamalek itself was borrowed off a nearby Giza hamlet called el Zamalek situated south west of Embaba town. Different interpretations of 'Zamalek' have come up over the years. The most common legend is that Zamalek is the plural of Zomlok, an Albanian (some say Kurdish) term meaning straw hut. These huts were allegedly home to servants working in palaces belonging to rich merchants living in the then superior district of Boulak. Or, how about Zamalek, a corruption of the Arabic expression word zou-molk meaning 'he who owns assets.'

Prior to the arrival of the vernacular 'Zamalek', Gezirah (Arabic for island) was the most common appellative used when denoting the island especially after the construction, in 1866, of the Khedive's Gezirah Palace (today Marriott Hotel). Hitherto the island was known as Geziret Boulak --Boulak Island reference to the thriving 18th and 19th century port of Boulak situated on the Nile's eastern bank.

But was that chunk of land always an island? Not so if one were to consult old Cairo maps especially that drawn up in 1873 by geographer Mahmoud Falaki Pasha. They show how Gezira was united to the mainland of Giza. The situation changed however, every August-October, when, during high flood, three islands appeared, the largest one situated in the middle. Hence the name "Gezira al-Wosta-middle island, which is used today as a name for a Zamalek Street. Due to heavy silt and mud movements the three islands eventually merged into one. And it was only when a channel was burrowed on its western flank that the bobbing landmass became a bona fide inhabitable island.

In his letter to the Secretary of State dated 15 September 1873, American Consul R. Beardsley describes how "the island of Guezirah is rapidly being transformed into a beautiful public park and giant nursery. It will soon be home to the new museum presently under consideration."  While the museum never materialized, the island was for several decades a large garden as recorded in plans meticulously laid out by khedivial court landscaper Gustave Delchevalerie.

For clues on the creation of the actual township of Gezirah a.k.a. Zamalek let's consult The Egyptian Gazette of 16 May 1903.

But were there any private residents on the island before the above date? In his postcard to the mayor of Boulogne Sur Mer in France, where he mentions the possible return of the body of Egyptologist Mariette Pasha, Chelu Pasha gives as his return address "Villa des Fleurs, Gezira". The postcard is dated dated 31 May 1900. Auguste Mariette who died 19 years earlier was himself from Boulogne sur mer hence the interest for his body to be shipped home.

New York Times 3 January 1904 article "Prosperity Rules in Egypt"

During the 20th century teen years the island's northern section was almost uninhabited save for some ragtag farms and possibly a handful of pioneer foreign residents. 'North End' was how the island's first British residents, mostly retired military with comfortable sinecures in a flourishing Egyptian civilian administration, nicknamed what was in part a marshy area. Indeed, the island's northern Nile foreshore expanded and contracted and sometimes during particularly high floods disappeared altogether.

It was thanks to the Belgian-run tramway company, along with the town planners, that the opening in 1911 of William Scherzer's (not Eiffel) Boulak Bridge, took place. The Boulak a.k.a. Abou El Ela bridge was dismantled in 1998.) With the construction of Boulak Bridge and the rapid rise in urban development after WW1, it was a matter of time before the marshy area north of the island's Avenue Zamalek (26th of July Street) was developed. Whereas in 1926 the square meter in this section sold for LE 1.00, the area south of 26th of July Avenue sold for double that amount.

As though to make a geographic and sometimes social distinction, old timers to this day will refer to the area south of 'Avenue Fouad' as 'Gezirah.' This is mostly due to its proximity to the quintessential Gezira Sporting Club established by the British in 1883 on land bequeathed to the British Army of Occupation by Khedive Tewfik.

1946: state carriage accompanying Syrian Prime Minister Gamil Mardam to his Embassy passing opposite Baehler Mansions on Zamalek's 26th of July Street. Old Boulak (Abou El Ela) Bridge seen in background. (Photo courtesy of Salma G. Mardam collection)

Likewise, during the first quarter of the 20th century, any mention of "Gezirah Gardens" meant you were talking about that newly developed urban area on what had been the Khedivial Palace grounds, which originally encompassed the island's midsection occupying land 20 times as large as that presently occupied by the Marriott Hotel.

For a detailed description of the Gezirah Palace Gardens one has to consult the volume written by Gustave Delchevalerie on the subject Les Promenades et les Jardins du Caire (1899).

Khedive Ismail's chief landscaper was responsible for several vice-regal and public gardens as well as major boulevards, recounts how, on the 600-acre Gezirah island, over 1 million exotic species were planted in what amounted to a gigantic experimental nursery. This was subdivided into large square-shaped sections for different categories of plants: fruits (citrus and tropical), ornament, woods, windbreakers, vegetables etc. But that's not all that was on the island, according to Delchevalerie. It appears the island was the temporary home to 75 different species of animals and 150 species of birds. These were relocated to the Giza Palace following Khedive Ismail's abdication.

It appears however that part of island fell on hard times following the exile of Khedive Ismail. In his book Souvenirs (published in 1935) former state administrator Gallini Fahmy Pasha recounts how, in 1900, the state domains on the Gezira side of Kasr al-Nil bridge were squatted upon by brigands pausing as farmers.

As the island's population rose steadily, the area north of 26th of July Avenue would be increasingly referred to as Zamalek. By the middle of the century the entire island would adopt that name evidencing that the island's commercial section had won the day.

Unless someone proves otherwise, Gezirah's first apartment building is Charles Baehler's 'Gezirah Mansions' designed in 1908-9 by Ernest Japsar of Heliopolis fame. Today the building is better known as Emaret el Yemeni--Yemeni Building despite "Gezireh House" feturing on a large marble plaque above the building's main entrance.

By 1924 the streets on the island's Gezirah section west of the former Khedivial palace had received lofty names. For instance, the streets lying west of Hassan Sabry (ex-Gabalaya) Street honored several Ayubid sultans including the notorious Armenian-born Sultana Shagaret el Dorr, the first woman to rule Egypt since Cleopatra. The streets east of Hassan Sabry were named after various members of the incumbent royal family. These were changed after 1952.

Flora too lent its name to parts of the island, which is why there was a Ward--Flower Street, and why the area surrounding the Anglo-American Hospital was, and still is, known as Zohria (Flowery) in view of the botanical gardens created there.

Several streets north of 26th of July Avenue were named after Egyptian residents of the island. Bahgat Ali Street was alternately known in the 1920s as "Rue Chawarby" reference to Mohammed Chawarby Pasha who owned a larger mansion there, and as "Rue Doctor Fathi Bayoumi" reference to a successful practitioner who was one of the first bona fide Egyptian to live on the island.

Villa Gaston Privat on Ahmed Heshmat Pasha (ex Mahkamma) Street

here were also streets named after several of the island's foreign residents such as Privat, Diacono, Milton, as well as British irrigation engineers (Sir William) Garstin, (Sir Scott Colin) Moncrieff and (Sir William) Willcocks. Likewise there are those streets named after Egyptian engineers: Ismail Mohammed, Sakib, Mohammed Mazhar and Mar'ashly.

Some streets were named after adjacent establishment hence the western section of Mar'ashly Street (the eastern part did not yet exist) was called Mahkamah (Tribunal) Street. In 1926 the Indigenous Court of Embaba was located where Mar'ashly today intersects Bahgat Ali Street. And there were streets named after nearby religious institutions such as Monsignor Sogaro, Comboni, and Saint Joseph.

True to Cairo tradition, many of Zamalek's streets succumbed to name changes. Pont de Boulak became King Fouad Bridge long before it became known as Kobri Abou El Ela, reference to the tomb of a nearby Sheik.

For lack of a name and since hardly anyone one lived there, Mohammed Mazhar Street was referred to as Gabalaya up to the late 1920s. It was, after all, an extension of the latter street. Later, it would carry different names such as Rue Rosi and Amir Saiid Street. It was only when Gabalaya was renamed Hassan Sabry Street that Bahr el Aama was itself renamed Gabalaya Street. Confusing? Absolutely! Well, here's more. Bahr el Aama or Blind Sea is reference to the western branch of the Nile that, up to the late 19th century, dried up in winter becoming a dead end for Nile boats. Only when the channel was deepened did it become navigable year-round.

Just as Khedive Ismail had commissioned the building of his summer palace of Gezira in 1866, other members of the Egyptian royal family would elect to live on his blessed island the following century. Three of their palaces were converted after 1952 into government-owned establishments. The palace of Prince Amr Ibrahim is now Ceramic Museum, the palace of Prince Omar Toussoun is today a branch of the Council of Ministers, and the Royal Rest House near the Gezira Sheraton is a an undisclosed military establishment soon to become the '1952 Revolution Museum'.

One of the first pre-1925 schools to open in Zamalek was run by the Catholic Church. Later on would come the Catholic Girls College off Bahgat Ali Street and the St. Joseph Preparatory School for Boys off Gabalaya Street (today Brazil Street). It would not be long before non-denominational and secular schools opened on the island as well.

Foremost among the island's schools was 'Zamalek School' founded in 1930 and operated by Madame Valentine Morin. At first located at No. 25 Mohammed Mazhar Street, then known as Mario Rosi, it moved in 1933 to much larger premises (1.5 feddans) at No. 4 Ibn al-Mashtub overlooking the Fish Garden. Whereas the school disappeared, part of its grounds became the German Embassy in the 1980s.

But the island's very first school opened the previous century (19th) on the northern part of the island. Its promoter was the Austria-Sudan (Catholic) Mission, also known as the Fathers of the African Mission or La Negrizia.

Founded in 1846 the Austria-Sudan Mission recruited its priests first from Verona and then from Southern Tyrol, with the ultimate purpose that they should enlighten the natives of Sudan. During the Mahdi's uprising, the missionaries fled to Egypt establishing temporary headquarters on 120 feddans (acres) of Gezirah Island land provided by Khedive Tewfik at a give-away price per feddan. There, the exiled missionaries set up a church, a school 'Leo XIII' and an agricultural farm. When it was safe for them to return to Sudan, now under joint Egypt-British control, the land was parceled out and sold to developers at a substantial profit, evidencing that the Church is quite skillful at business transactions.

Two other foreign institutes that operated from the island prior to WW2 were the official and the de-facto German Archeological Institutes. In 1931 the official one was located in a new villa, at No. 5 El Kamel Mohammed Street, headed by Professor Hermann Junker (1877-1962). When WW2 was declared the Institute was closed down. The de-facto German archeological Institute meanwhile operated out of the former German Orient Society--Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft, in existence since the turn of the century. Located in a beautiful property overlooking the Nile, it is better known today as the Swiss Institute for Archaeological and Architectural Research--Maa'had El Swissry, hence the long-standing name of the adjoining street, which later changed to Aziz Abaza Street.

Saad Zaghloul Pasha immortalised by Mokhtar atop a magnificent neo-Pharaonic pedestal gracing the island's Kasr el Nil Bridge entrance. The new Cairo Opera House see in background.

The occupant of this academic center (for a while known as the Borchardt Academic Foundation) was veteran Egyptologist Herr Ludwig Borchardt of Nefertiti fame. Like Hermann Junker, he was also from Germany, but unlike Junker the Catholic, Borchardt was a Jew. The advent of WW2 and fearing for his interests, the Berlin-born former director of the Deutsches Archaologisches Institut Kairo and his wife, Emilie Ed. Cohen, struck a deal with the Swiss in return for safe passage and protection. Professor Borchardt died in Zurich on 12 August 1938 aged 74. Ten years later the Swiss were declared the official beneficiaries of his floral estate on the Nile. They are still there today hence the survival of these century old buildings and their garden, which if the rumor is correct, is the also final resting place of Professor Borchardt's ashes.

Apart from these two German centers, by far the most important colonial institution on the island was the British Sirdaria.

Second in order of colonial importance after the British 'Residence' at Kasr al-Dubara, the Sirdaria was home to the British Commander of the Egyptian Army. The Sirdar (a borrowed Indian title) was also Governor General of the Sudan. Several Sirdars made their marks in British Imperial history, Kitchener and Wyngate foremost among them.

A Sirdar who made it posthumously to fame was Sir Lee Stack. His assassination on 19 November 1924, while returning to the Sirdaria, not only brought down Saad Zaghloul and the entire Wafdist government, but also cost Egypt its 50% stake in the Sudan.

The Sirdaria fronted the midsection of Avenue Zamalek. After 1936 it would turn into a British Club before becoming part Egyptian Officers Clue, part theatre after 1952. The last so-called Sirdar to live at the Sirdaria was Major General Sir Spinks Pasha. Relieved of his functions following the Anglo-Egyptian Treaty of 1936, he and Lady Spinks, moved into a 4th floor apartment at No. 18 "Nile View," Saraya el Gezirah. Menawhile, during WW2, Zamalek was home to platoons of multinational generals and field marshals, along with foreign kings and exiled heads of state. They occupied some of Zamalek's grandest villas while the poorest among them, like the king of Greece, would make do with their embassy residence.

A long gone pre-WW2 landmark is the once famous Thomas Cook & Son docking facilities at what was then nicknamed Izbet al-Kobri (Bridge Farm) later to be replaced with a pleasure palace and the Gezira Sheraton. Hence, visits to Luxor and Aswan aboard Cook's legendary paddle steamers (SS Setti to PS Karnak and Tewfik) began or ended at Gezirah's southern embankment. It is also at Cook's Gezirah wharf that several dozen cases containing capital objects from Tutankhamun's tomb, arrived on Monday, 21 May 1923, en route from Luxor to the Egyptian Museum.

December 1945: King Farouk laying commemorative plaque for the restoration of Nileside 'Gezira Mosque'. Below: same plaque defaced by Nasser's regime.

Almost hidden below 6th of October Bridge are two other Nileside landmarks. Opposite the Ramses Hilton across the Nile stands El Gezirah Mosque. It is the island's first Muslim place of worship. Constructed in 1876 by Khedive Ismail it was completely restored during the reign of King Farouk who attended its re-launch in December 1945. Also beneath the overriding shadow of the same bridge is the Feroussia equestrian Club. Opened on 30 April 1938 by the King himself it had for its first honorary president Prince Youssef Kamal with al-Nabil Amr Ibrahim named its first president. For a long time it was frequented by Cairo's elite. A place where many young ladies were wooed by handsome cavalry officers in their awesome military atire.

Two other century-old institutions still around on Gezirah Island are the Anglo-American Hospital and the Fish Aquarium.

During Gezirah island's pre-WW1 days the aquarium was a favorite for picnics. The aquarium also known as Hadikat al-Asmak opened to the public in November 1902. It was landscaped by Captain Stanley Flower at a cost to the state of LE 1,150. But perhaps we should use the term 're-landscaped' since, thirty years earlier, the foundations of that popular destination, had already been laid out by Delchevalerie. In his above-mentioned volume he metions how "The Ghezireh Aquarium and its magnificent grotto were constructed by MM. Combaz & Dumpily." But in those days the palace gardens and their dependencies was the for the exclusive pleasure of the Khedive and his privileged guests.

Prior to WW1, Café Gezirah was a place to relax and to gamble, according to turn of the century travel writer Amedée Baillot de Guerville. This was the island's only such convenience courtesy of two Italians, Messrs. Dalbagni & Corbetta. In her book New Egypt (Ldn., Heinemann, 1905) de Guerville describes Café Gezirah as a

Nearby Dalbagni's eatery were Zamaleks' Theatre des Ambassadeurs and the popular skating rink later to be replaced with the Andalusian and a newer theatre called Masrah al-Geib (Pocket Theatre).

View of Chinese Embassy on Bahgat Ali Street previously the residence of Ambassador Hassan Nachatt Pasha. This villa is not to be confused with neighboring Chinese Embassy residence succesively owned by Paul Neauville and Maurice (Alta) DossKolta family from Upper Egypt (leased to Abdel Hamid Chawarby Pasha for LE 15).
below: intersection of Gezira and Hassan Sabry streets with the tiny Gezira Police bungallow (a subsidiary of Abdine Police Station)

The only diplomatic institution in Gezirah prior to WW1 was the Agence Diplomatique Neerlandaise that had as its address: Mr. P. C. van Lennep, Villa Beauregard, Gezireh. Unlike today, diplomatic agencies were still situated in downtown Cairo and Kasr al-Dubara.

Exhibition pavilion built in early years of the 20th century

It is interesting to note that Egypt's first modern-day Exhibition Halls were re-introduced on the island in the 1920s replacing older ones built at the turn of the century, for by now Egypt's annual agricultural fairs were already world-famous. A half-century later, these same fair grounds became home to Egypt's Japanese-built opera house. And since the island's modern beginnings had been so inexorably tied with Egypt's first opera house during the Suez Canal inaugural festivities, in a way one of Cairo's chicks had come home to roost.

Zamalek early-1920s

map of Zamalek mid-1920s

above:pre-1905 map showing property of the (Comboni) Order de la Negrizzia; below map tracing the two major properties in Zamalek in 1900

Member of parliament for Zamalek and Garden City (18th district) The Honorable Hesham Moustafa Khalil (NDP) is deputy chairman of the Parliamentary Culture, Tourism and Media Committee reachable at: hkhalil54@yahoo.com

Reader Comments

Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 23:36:03 +0100 From: Norman Downe I was a member of Willcocks Sports Club which bordered on the better known Gezireh Sporting Club. Regrettably, your article does not mention Willcocks S.C. which was a wonderful place with all kinds of sporting activities, including croquet ! Gezireh Race Track bordered Willcocks and I well remember seeing races as the horses swept by with cries from the crowd of "Yallah Maurice" one of two brothers named "Sillag" who were jockeys. I visited Cairo recently (January 2007) and was saddened to see the state of the grounds which showed that that they had been neglected for many years and appeared not to be used for any purpose. The old tree which stood in the middle of the road close to the club entrance was still there not looking very different from when I first saw it 65 years ago ! CHINESE EMBASSY RESIDENCE Mr. Maurice Doss, now in his late 80s, recounts the story behind the dicey purchase of his Zamalek residence on Taha Hussein Street by the Chinese Embassy in 1956 at the cost of LE 120,000. Egypt was still a budding republic when Mr. Hamada El Tarabolssi (renown as Egypt's fattest man) contacted Doss on behalf of the Presidency. "He told me that the state wanted me to sell the house post haste without giving further explanation. When I refused, I was personally contacted by telephone by a senior official at Presidential Affairs, Mr. Salah El Shahed, who reiterated the request. He underlined that it was in my best interest to sell rather than have the house expropriated. I succumbed." Egypt had just upgraded its relations with the People's Republic of (Communist) China from a mere interest section to a full embassy and the new ambassador wanted his residence to be directly across Bahgat Ali Street from the then-Chinese consulate turned Embassy. The unfortunate Maurice Doss and his family had hardly moved into the house, which he had purchased from Paul Neuville, Techinal Director of the Egyptian Sugar Company, before it was time to move out. He relocated in the former property of Aslan and Gilda Vidon (now partly the Five Bells Restaurant-Bar) at Zamalek's No. 9 Adil Abou Bakr Street. The author of this article is grateful to Mr. Mounir Doss for putting him in contact with his uncle Maurice Doss on Friday, 3 March 2006 "The streets of Zamalek are straight and parallel. They are leveled and by far the cleanest in Cairo. Graced by its villas, its large homes and its gardens the island is however marred by four skyscrapers belonging to Ades, Harari, Rodrigues and Naguib Youssef. Sadly, they have defaced the otherwise clear vista. Zamalek is also home to the most beautiful sporting club in the world stretching over 150 feddans -- ten times bigger than Ezbekieh Gardens." Marius Schemeil wrote the above in his 1940's book "Le Caire: Sa vie, Son Histoire, Son Peuple". Among the 'skyscapers' he refers are No. 9 Aziz Osman belonging to Raphael Ezra Ades; No. 11 Ibn Zanki belonging to Sami Harari; Subject: Guezireh Sporting Club & zamalek Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2004 20:38:55 EDT From: jhypers@aol.com Merci. J'ai bien apprécié la documentation avec des larmes du coeur. J'ai laissé Zamalek le 14 juin 1967 pour vivre à Montréal selon la volonté de mon père. Mais sincèrement l'Egypte et Zamalek où J'ai grandi habite mon esprit et mon coeur. J'étais championne de ping-pong, membre du Guezireh club.Eh ! les beaux souvenirs. Merci pour les larmes, qui ont réchaufé mon âme. Jacqueline H.Youssef (B.Sc.) Subject: Ecole de Zamalek Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 10:11:28 EST From: A. Baveja Your site brought back memories of my time at Ecole de Zamalek which I attended in the late 50s. I left Egypt in 1960 and returned to Cairo in 1986 for a very short stay. From the main road in Zamalek I walked down to Sharia Ibn-el-Mashtoub where the school was located but the school no longer exists. I believe the German embassy is housed there in new buildings. No one would be able to tell now that there used to be a cosmopolitan school there in days gone by, which had an English section preparing students for GCE examinations and a French section where students could take the Baccalaureate. It was an excellent school and the staff and student body were a happy lot. Subject: Zamalik Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2001 17:27:07 EDT From: Janine Kramer Engel Thank you, thank you for a most informative sight. I lived in Zamalek with my family in a villa till 1945 and attended the Morin School. I have many fond memories. My grandfather had a large jeweler store called Kramer & Sons established in 1920. My father Adolphe Kramer was court jeweler to King Farouk. I am in the process of writing my memoirs for my children and grandchildren.. Do you have any information regarding A. Kramer Argenteries or Jewelers? It would be most helpful and greatly appreciated. Subject: zamalek Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2001 17:19:29 -0400 From: george marcou Viewing your informative site prompts me to send you this bit of information about my living in Zamalek. I was born in Heliopolis, raised in Cairo and lived in Zamalek during the 1940's. Our family, headed by my father, Miralai Marcou Bey of the Egyptian Police, first lived on the 3rd or 4th floor of the Baehler Building overlooking Fouad I Street. Later, we moved to the top floor of the building on Mohamed Mazhar Pasha Street, adjacent to what was then the Apostolic Delegate's residence. Incidentally, our Baehler apartment was then occupied by my cousin, Dr. Paul Ghaliouingi, the author of many books on Ancient Egyptian medicine. Many of my friends and classmates at the Lycee Francais du Caire, also lived in Zamalek. We often went to the "Grotte" to view the aquarium with its catfish. I moved to the United States in 1949 and have kept up with many Zamalek friends since. It is great fun to view your sites. They bring back many wonderful memories. George T. Marcou, Chevy Chase MD Subject: Baehler...Zamalek and more... Date: Sun, 1 Jul 2001 02:20:40 -0500 From: Lillian Mizrahi Gilbert Your site is terrific...you have taken me down memory lane. I am just sorry I had not found it earlier... I lived at 3 Baehler Street between Soliman Pasha (now Tal'at Harb) and Kasr El Nil. Your pictures are simply great. You have such a wonderful wealth of knowledge! Like Mrs. Weinstein I would like to see Alvernia English Convent School in Zamalek mentioned on your web site. Do you have pictures of the old school? I think the government had taken over the land in 1949; we all had to go to St. Clare's College in Heliopolis (same order of nuns) to finish our education. It would be nice to see St. Clare's also mentioned. I clicked on AUC Registrars (American University in Cairo) but only one picture came out...the others were blank? On still another site it was good to see a picture of Ambassador John Badeau who was President of AUC when I was a student. Keep up the excellent work! Subject: Cours Morin de Zamalek Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2001 01:52:28 -0400 From: Henri Bagdadi I wonder if you or any of your readers have any memory, photographs or other mementos of a French school in Zamalek, located across the street from the "Jardin des poissons", along the Nile. It was called Cours Morin or Cours Morin de Zamalek and, as of 1956 when it was nationalized, Ecole de Zamalek. I believe it survived into the early sixties under that last name and was then moved elsewhere in Cairo. I understand its Zamalek location has been destroyed and replaced by housing for diplomats or some such construction. I actually attended it until 1959 (classe de 7ieme, i.e. grade 5) and my mother was a teacher there from the mid-thirties to the end of the fifties. It was called "Cours Morin" in the early days simply because it belonged to a couple of expatriate French citizens by the name of Morin. It mostly catered to rather upper class Egyptians and foreigners. (I could only attend it because my mother actually taught there; we couldn't have afforded it otherwise!) If anyone has any information to share, please write me. Henri Bagdadi, Ottawa, Canada Subject: Zamalek Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2001 03:09:44 -0800 (PST) From: Amr Talaat Originally, the southern border of the island was closer to al-Roda Island, while its northern border was closer to where Fouad Avenue (a.k.a. 26 July) is now. When Khedive Ismail diverted the Nile's course--part of his grand plan to modernize Cairo, the river moved silt and mud to form what is today northern Zamalek. Up to 1877, when it was deepened, Cairo's western Nile channel would dry up in winter hence its name Bahr al-Aama--Blind Sea. Ismail built another mansion in Zamalek far smaller and less luxurious than his Gezira Palace. The 40-room Villa Zohriya was surrounded by two acres of gardens. Its last pre-1952 tenant was Princess Faiza, King Farouk's younger sister. Since it was already government property, the new regime did not need to confiscate it. Nevertheless, the furniture was sold for LE 30,000. Used today by the Youth & Sports Authority, Villa Zohriya is visible from the 6th of October Bridge minus its garden. SOME STREET NAMES Ismail Mohammed Pasha was chief irrigation engineer for Egypt's southern mudireyas--provinces when the important Ibrahimia Canal was dug. In 1899 he was appointed President of Majlis Shoura / Kawanin, a legislative body. Born in Korashia, Gharbia, Mohammed Thakib Pasha was a 19th century engineer who participated in the Delta Barrage--al-Kanater al-Khairia project. He was also chief engineer in Upper Egypt. Mohammed Fadel, a grandson of Mohammed Thakib Pasha, asserts he was not an irrigation engineer but a survey engineer who had a role in the planning up of Zamalek Ahmed Heshmat Pasha (1858-1924) was born in Kafr al-Meselha, Monoufia. A graduate of Cairo's Law School, he obtained his Ph.D. from Montpelier, France. Starting off as a judge he was appointed in turn governor of Gerga, Assuit and Dakahlia. He was a member of several government cabinets as minister of Finance, Education, Foreign Affairs and Awkaf. Heshmat Pasha headed the committee that drafted the 1923 Constitution. Civil engineer Mohammed Mar'ashly Pasha was minister of public works during the reign of Khedive Ismail. Later, he was appointed chief engineer of coastal forts about the time when the British fleet bombarded Alexandria in July 1882. When consulted by Khedive Tewfik regarding an appropriate response to Britain's aggression, Mar'ashly, contrary to all those present, suggested conceding to the British. Sparing innocent lives was the best option in view of the poor state of the military. From: Carmen Weinstein Date: June 5, 2001 You forgot to mention my school, the Alvergna Convent School in Zamalek on Mohammed Mazhar Steet. It was affiliated with St. Claire of Heliopols and the convent school on Avenue Nazli (now Ramses Street).

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