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Several of my articles on Garden City were plagiarized word for word by novelist MEKKAWI SAID (winner of the Egyptian State price for literature!!!!) and re-published under his own name in a three-part series in El-Masry El-Youm daily in September 2015.

Cheers to our "talented" literature prize awardee. Your pain his gain !!!

EGY.COM  -  MAADI

LEGEND OF MAADI'S STREET NAMES

From the book Maadi 1904-62; History & Society in a Cairo Suburb by Samir W Raafat

Maadi book

Except for six diagonal avenues all of "old" Maadi's perpendicular streets were numbered. Originally, all but one of the name-bearing avenues were in honor of the British and Jewish founding directors of EDLICO (Egyptian Delta Land & Investment Company), which created the suburb of Maadi in 1906. The only exception was Maadi's main avenue which was named after King Fouad who ruled Egypt from 1917 to 1936. Previously it had simply been called Avenue Maadi

Orabi Street

ORABI STREET
Re-named in 1956 after General Ahmed Orabi Pasha instigator of the 1882 revolt against the Khedive's men

  • Previously MOSSERI STREET
    so named after millionaire banker extraordinaire Elie Nessim Mosseri Bey, a founding director of the Egyptian Delta Land & Investment Company (EDLICO) which created Maadi in 1906.


    Mustafa Kamel Street

    MUSTAFA KAMEL STREET
    Renamed in 1956 in honor of nationalist Mustafa Kamel Pasha (1874-1908) founder of Egypt's first Nationalist party in 1907 calling for the independence of Egypt from British domination and a constitutional government

  • Previously AMIRA FAWZIA STREET
    So named in 1950 in honor of HRH Princess Fawzia (sister of King Farouk) who purchased a villa on the street. She lived there between 1949-59
  • Previously MENASHE AVENUE
    so named after Count Jacques Bohor de Menashe a founding director of the Egyptian Delta Land & Investment Company (EDLICO) which created Maadi in 1906.


    Port Saiid Street

    PORT SAIID STREET
    Renamed in 1956 in honor of the people of Port Saiid who defended their city against the Tripartite invasion (France, Britain and Israel) a.k.a. Suez War of 1956

  • Previously AHMED ABDELWAHAB PASHA AVENUE
    So named in honor of the late minister of finance Ahmed Abdelwahab Pasha (d. April 1938) who built his large villa on that avenue in the 1930s. It was later purchased by perfume magnate Hamza Chabrawichi before becoming the residence of successive Israeli ambassadors.
  • Previously COLVIN AVENUE
    So named after Sir Auckland Colvin the EDLICO's first CEO. Author of "The Making of Modern Egypt" Colvin was a senior British administrator in the Egyptian government and was responsible for putting Egypt's finances in order during the administration of Lord Cromer.


    Damascus Street

    DAMASCUS STREET
    Named after the capital of Syria

  • Previously PALMER AVENUE
    Named after Sir Elwin Palmer first British governor of the National Bank of Egypt (1898), a financial advisor to the khedive and a founding director of EDLICO.


    Nahda Avenue

    NAHDA AVENUE
    Maadi's longest avenue running all the way from the Nile river banks to Digla

  • Previously KING FOUAD AVENUE named after Egypt's first constitutional monarch (d. 1936)


    Nahda Square

    NAHDA SQUARE (ROUNDABOUT)

  • Previously MOSSERI ROUNDABOUT
    On Mosseri Roundabout lived a German baron, a Jewish Pasha and a Syrian Merchant all of whom saw their lived flip-flop during WW2


    Nadi Street

    AL-NADI AVENUE
    Named after the nearby Maadi Sporting Club

  • Previously CATTAUI AVENUE
    so named after banker and head of the Cairo Jewish Community Moise de Cattaui Pasha a founding director of the Egyptian Delta Land & Investment Company (EDLICO) which created Maadi in 1906


    Sad al-Aali Street

    SAD AL-AALI STREET
    Named after the High Dam south of Aswan

  • Previously ROLO STREET
    so named after banker Sir Robert Rolo a founding director of the Egyptian Delta Land & Investment Company (EDLICO) which created Maadi in 1906


    Sad al-Aali Street

    WAHIB DOSS AVENUE
    Named after senator-lawyer Wahib Doss Bey who lived at Greystone Manor fronting the street

  • Previously WILLIAMSON AVENUE
    so named after John Williamson a founding director of the Egyptian Delta Land & Investment Company (EDLICO) which created Maadi in 1906. Williamson was the only EDLICO founding member who resided in Maadi in his castle-like house "Greystone Manor"


    Suares Square

    Suares Square

    SUARES SQUARE
    The only square which retained its original name.
    so named after financier Felix Menahem Suares a founding director of the National Bank of Egypt and of the Egyptian Delta Land & Investment Company (EDLICO) which created Maadi in 1906.
    Could not find (March 2013) any name-plaque/sign for this particular square (Midan)!


    Hadayek Street

    HADAYEK STREET
    Hadayek meaning gardens is a street that runs paralel to the Helwan railway line in the area of Maadi-Sakanat (Sakanat meaning barracks in view of the nearby army barracks that were once there).
    Today, Maadi Gardens or Hadayek El Maadi is devoid of its original gardens and villas most of which were replaced by unsavoury apartment buildings.


    Canal Street

    CANAL STREET
    The dual Canal street ran alongside both sides of the Eucalyptus-lined Khashaab Canal before it was filled and turned into a public park unique due to its century-old Eucalyptus trees. The Canal remained for several decades a reference point dividing Maadi into two sections: Canal West and Canal East. Originally an irrigation canal the Khashaab originated south ot Torah running through Maadi and Bassatine spilling out onto the agricutural fields in the Dar al-Salaam area. The fields disappeared along with the Canal in the 1970s.

    Canal Park
    NOW

    Khashaab Canal
    BEFORE


    Road 14
    Road 14

    Road 14

    two examples of street signs. The one nailed to a tree is a holdover of the 1950s with French used as a second language while the bottom sign is from the 1980s; English displaced its predecessor.


    Queen Dina Street

    Road 14

    So named after al-Sherifa Dina Abdelhamid the sometime Queen of Jordan who spent part of her childhood in her parent's villa fronting the street.



    articles posted on egy.com were published in the following books by Samir W Raafat: THE EGYPTIAN BOURSE, Zeitouna, Cairo -- CAIRO THE GLORY YEARS, Harpocrates, Alexandria -- HISTORY & SOCIETY IN A CAIRO SUBURB; MAADI 1904-1962, Palm Press, Cairo -- PRIVILEGED FOR THREE CENTURIES, printed digitally and bound by Elias Printing, Egypt

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