By Mursi Saad El-Din Cairo University is celebrating 100 years of its foundation. The celebrations will continue for a whole year, with all kinds of activities, academic and cultural. On this occasion I though it would be fit to review the history of this great centre of learning. The foundation of the first secular university in Egypt coincides with the emergence of a nationalist movement at the beginning of the 20th century. In fact, it was more than a coincidence, since the surge in the nationalist movement reflected the emergence of a new middle class; a class which sought education as a weapon, especially higher education. On 12 October 1906, a group of eminent Egyptians met to discuss the foundation of a national university and start a fund- raising campaign towards this end. At the beginning, the project was viewed with suspicion, in spite of their declaration that the aim of the project was non- political: nor did it meet with the encouragement it deserved from the government. In order to secure the success of the project, the need was felt for the patronage of a distinguished personality and Prince Ahmed Fuad (later king Fuad I) was approached. A second meeting was held in Diwan Al-Awqaf (Religious Endowments) on 31 January and the prince was elected president. A memorandum was published declaring, "it is high time that young Egyptians should obtain the benefit of higher education in Cairo itself." The declaration gave a new impetus to the scheme. The state changed its attitude and granted the university LE2,000 a year. The Ministry of Awqaf contributed another LE5,000 annually. These were followed by other contributions and endowments, including a bequest by Princess Fatima Ismail of 661 acres in Daqahlia, in addition to LE25,000 worth of jewellery, as well as six acres in Bulaq Al-Dakrour, the site of the present Agriculture Museum. The university began its activities by sending missions to Europe to obtain higher education. At the same time distinguished professors from European universities were invited to devise, in coordination with their Egyptian colleagues, study courses in history, philosophy, economics and Arabic literature. In due course, the university began to confer academic degrees, but the advent of WWI hampered the university's development. In 1917, the government became in favour of establishing a state university, and a special committee was set up for this purpose. The committee advised that all existing higher institutes and schools be unified under one administration. The recommendation was approved by the Council of Ministers in February 1917. But because of the war, it was only in 1923 that the minister of education revived the project, approving the integration of the Ahliya (National) University into a state university. The new university, it was declared, would enjoy an independent administration, while the old university would form the nucleus of the Faculty of Arts. On 11 March 1925, a decree was issued stipulating the formation of "the Egyptian University comprising four faculties: arts, science, medicine and law." This decree was shortly replaced by Law 42 of 26 August 1927 which stated that, "the Egyptian University is concerned with all forms of higher education in the various faculties. It should encourage scientific research and work for the dissemination of the arts and sciences in Egypt. The Arabic language should be the language of instruction, unless the council of the university deems it fit to recommend the use of foreign languages in special circumstances." Another decree incorporated the Royal School of Engineering, the Higher School of Agriculture, the Higher School of Commerce and the School of Veterinary Medicine in the Egyptian University, and a later one decreed that the Royal Institute of Marine Biology become part of the university. Finally, on 23 May 1940, Law 27 stipulated that the Egyptian University change its name to Fuad I University. That name remained until it was changed after 1952 to Cairo University. In 1950, the number of university teaching staff was 1233, of whom 367 were professors or associate professors; 100 of whom were Europeans. The total number of students at that year was 18,548; 1269 of whom were women and 871 foreigners. Annual tuition fees that year was LE20 for science- based courses, LE15 for humanities plus an additional LE3 for library membership.
