Al-Ahram Weekly pays tribute to a diplomat and a gentleman If Ahmed Maher was to choose the closing line of his 75-year life, he would not have come up with a more different ending than the peaceful and elegant exit with which he departed. Egypt's former foreign minister passed away on Monday after attending an Andrea Bocelli concert at the Pyramids along with friends and acquaintances who have always enjoyed his endearing company as much as he did theirs. Shortly after the concert, Maher complained of shortness of breath and tightness of the chest. He gasped for air and fainted. He was rushed to hospital but it was too late. Hoda Maher, his loving wife, and many of his devoted friends had to accept that on 27 September 2010 they saw the last smile of a man who often smiled even when life was not so kind to him. President Hosni Mubarak, with sons Alaa and Gamal, Cabinet members, leading parliamentarians, senior state officials and a host of Egyptian and other Arab and foreign diplomats were present on Tuesday afternoon to pay their last respects to the man who was sworn in as Egypt's foreign minister in May 2001 after an incidental announcement on Egyptian TV. Present too was Amr Moussa, the Arab League secretary-general, Maher's long time colleague and professional rival and the immediate predecessor whose exceptional popularity for 10 years in office left Maher vulnerable to unkind remarks that at times overlooked the firm patriotic nature of a minister. Also present at Maher's funeral was Ahmed Abul-Gheit who took over the Foreign Ministry in July 2004 and who lamented the loss of "a seasoned diplomat dedicated to serving his country". A career diplomat who joined the Foreign Service in the good years of the 1952 Revolution, Maher was born in one of Egypt's pre-revolution bonne familles. His grandfather was Ahmed Maher Pasha, the pre-World War II prime minister who was assassinated in parliament on 24 February 1945. "I was 10 years old when my grandfather was assassinated," he told Gamal Nkrumah for a profile that Al-Ahram Weekly published in June 2005. "My mother named me after him. He had no sons and my mother wanted his name to live on. I was, therefore, given the compound name, Ahmed Maher, of my grandfather. Compound names were common, especially among the titled elites of the day," Nkrumah quoted him. Maher himself had no children of his own and his immediate family was one of many younger diplomats who truly loved him as a father, and of Hoda, the spouse he always held hands with as they attended art galleries, Opera House performances and weddings of children of colleagues and friends. "The wife of a senior diplomat can be of tremendous support, especially if she interacts freely with members of the host community, socialises easily and takes an interest in her husband's work." That was Maher's way of referring to Hoda when Nkrumah interviewed him. Hoda, he always said to people who knew him, was a remarkable companion and an invaluable support through years of diplomatic service that took him from Europe to Africa to America where he was Egypt's ambassador for a good seven years following five years in Moscow. And when Hoda returned with her husband from Washington in the autumn of 2000 for an expected retirement the plan was endless visits in Egypt and overseas for the Mahers. But the plan was interrupted by the top job in the Foreign Service. And there too, Hoda was the invaluable source of support, especially when Maher was subject to angry public reaction over policies that were not entirely of his making. Her encouraging words were the substitute for public opinion applause which Maher was not always showered with for reasons that were state-designed rather than for his otherwise self-imposed low-key style. And according to one bodyguard who served with the former foreign minister, "reassuring Hoda" was what most concerned Maher on the eve of Christmas 2003 when he faced the scorn of Palestinian crowds in Jerusalem protesting against Egypt's shift in policies. In the many articles that Maher wrote in the years following July 2004, Maher never told the story of his years as foreign minister. He would give interviews, attend seminars, book-signings, talk to journalists, chat with students as he entered university halls to give a lecture, but never did he reveal much about his years as a minister nor about his post as Egypt's ambassador to the US. "No, memoirs are too self-centred," he told Nkrumah five years ago. "I have never kept a diary. The book I have in mind is a collection of essays -- reflections." Ahmed Maher wrote his essays and shared some of his reflections but the curtain came down before the book could see the light of day. (See a profile of Ahmed Maher)
