Egypt bid farewell on Tuesday to former defence minister Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawy, who died at the age of 85. Below are the major facts of Tantawy's outstanding career life and posts he had assumed Tantawy, who hailed from Nubian origins, was born in October 1935. He joined the Egyptian Military Academy in 1952, and graduated in 1956 to become an army officer in the infantry. He attended and graduated from the Command and Staff College in 1971. Tantawy was one of the heroes of the glorious October 1937 War, serving as the commander of a combat unit in the infantry. He participated in the 1956 Suez Canal War, the 1967 War, and the War of Attrition. He served as Egypt's military attaché to Pakistan in 1975 and then in Afghanistan. In 1987, he assumed the position of Commander of the Second Field Army. In 1988, he was promoted to commander of the Presidential Guard. In 1991, he was appointed as the defence minister and the general commander of the Armed Forces. He was awarded the rank of field marshal in 1993. He headed the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that ruled Egypt after the stepping down of president Hosni Mubarak on the heels of the 2011 revolution. In August 2012, his 21-year-old tenure as the country's defence minister was brought to an end by then Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, and was appointed as a presidential adviser. Among the various civil and military honorary medals and badges he had received was the 'Order of the Nile' medal, which is Egypt's highest state honour that is granted for exceptional services to the nation. He died on 21 September 2021 and a military funeral service was held for him on the same day.
