Obituary: (1933 - 2006) El-Bey led a full life and passed away peacefully. He was a pensive and studious character, but he did not lack a sense of humour. Fouad embarked on a journalistic career at a time when Egypt was fast changing. He was a keen observer of the changing political life of Egypt at a time when the country was undergoing tremendous changes. Two years after graduating from the department of journalism at the American University in Cairo in 1956, joined Al-Ahram newspaper, initiating a productive journalistic career. Fouad began his journalistic career in the midst of the Cold War era. He witnessed the signing of the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty and the 1989 collapse of the Soviet Union. He began his career at Al-Ahram as a translator, documenting the sweeping worldwide changes and rendering translations into Arabic of autobiographies and memoirs of world leaders and prominent international figures. A prolific writer, for years he wrote Al-Ahram 's editorial, and churned out numerous articles and commentaries. Throughout the 48 years he worked in the Arab World's most established newspaper, he provided Arab readers with analyses of international political events. He was a skilled writer with a unique style in portraying international political figures who played significant roles in shaping world politics throughout the past half century. A productive translator and writer, he authored many a book on current international politics. Siwar min Qareeb (Close-ups) (1996), Mahttaat (Stations) (2003), were among a plethora of books he wrote on the issue. He was also occupied with national Arab issues in his writings, thus authored Al-Mustawtanat Al-Yahudiya fil Fikr Al-Suhyouni (Jewish Settlements in Zionist Thinking 1978). One of the founders of Al-Ahram Weekly, Fouad was the first deputy editor-in-chief of the paper since its inception in February 1991. He was the editor of Op-ed pages for several years. Having headed the central desk of Al-Ahram for years, Fouad was also one of the key founders of the international edition of the daily Al-Ahram. After retiring from Al-Ahram at the age of 65, he also supervised the Arab edition of the daily Al-Ahram. He taught journalism and translation in several Egyptian universities. For those of us who had the pleasure of working with him he would be sorely missed. , writer and journalist: born 1933; graduated from the AUC in 1956; former deputy editor of Al-Ahram and Al-Ahram Weekly, writer of several books and thousands of political columns; taken ill suddenly on Friday 17 February in his Heliopolis home and rushed to hospital where he died a few hours later; survived by his wife Nawal Mustafa Gomaa, former journalist at the daily Al-Akhbar and three daughters (Doaa, a journalist at the Weekly; Naheel; and Sara). By Samir Sobhi
