Mohamed Hassanein Heikal was the only Egyptian journalist who witnessed two kings and seven presidents of Egypt. He spoke many languages and had wide range of contacts with international leaders all over the world. Indeed, he is the father of Egyptian modern journalism. The leading Egyptian journalist was born in a village in Al-Dakahlia, north east Cairo, in 23 September 1923. After he had received his education at Cairo University, Heikal became a reporter for the Egyptian Gazette in 1943. He joined the staff of Rosal Yussef in 1944, and from 1953 to 1956 he served as editor of Akher Saa. In 1956 and 1957 he served as editor of Al-Akhbar. For 17 years (1957–1974) he was the editor in chief of Al-Ahram newspaper and has been a commentator on Arab affairs for more than 50 years. During his tenure (1957–74) Al-Ahram was called the New York Times of the Arab world, partly because of the editor's weekly analytical pieces, some of them covering a full page. Heikal was a longtime friend of Gamal Abdel Nasser, and when Nasser came to power he installed Heikal as editor of Al-Ahram. Heikal at once began improving the paper's accuracy and objectivity and subdued the high emotional and sensational tone that had characterized it. He also insisted on high production quality. He hired and trained university graduates as investigative reporters and set up an Al-Ahram Strategic Studies Centre. While holding the post of editor of Al-Ahram, he served as chairman of the Al-Ahram Establishment Board (1959–74). He was a member of the Central Committee of the Arab Social Union from 1968 to 1974 and a minister of national guidance from April to October of 1970. After Nasser's death in 1970, Heikal remained editor of Al-Ahram until 1974, when the paper's criticisms of Anwar el-Sādāt led to his removal, and he became a freelance journalist. In September 2003, upon reaching the age of 80, Heikal wrote an article in the monthly magazine Weghat Nazar, that the time has come for an "old warrior" to put down his pen and take to the sidelines. He criticized Egyptian president Mubarak, saying that Mubarak lives in a "world of fantasy" in Sharm al Sheikh. These comments stirred uproar within Egyptian society, both for and against Heikal, but he did not comment on this criticism except later on Al Jazeera. From 2007 Heikal hosted a series of lectures on world events entitled Ma'a Heikal ("With Heikal"), which was broadcast on the Arabic television network Al Jazeera. He generally discussed the information he acquired during his years as a journalist, historian, and a player in the political arena in Egypt's modern history. His lectures gave an overview of the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of modern Arab nationalist governments. In addition he has discussed the events leading to the deterioration of Nasser's relationship with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and the failed assassination attempt. Heikal was the author of several books, including Nasser: The Cairo Documents (1972), The Road to Ramadan (1975), Sphinx and Commissar (1978), and Autumn of Fury (1983), the last a criticism of Sādāt.
