Arabic: محمد حسنين هيكل Born: Sep. 23, 1923 Mohamed Hassanein Heikal is most well known for his post as editor-in-chief of Egyptian state newspaper Al-Ahram from 1957 through 1974. He was appointed in his position at Al-Ahram by former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser. Until 1974, Heikal worked to transform the old-fashioned style of emotional, biased reporting into a more accurate and objective style of reporting and writing the news neutrally. During Heikal's term as editor-in-chief, al-Ahram became the main source of news of the Arab world on an international level. Nasser died in 1970 and Heikal remained in his position at Al-Ahram for four more years, until he was fired in 1974 for criticizing then-President Anwar Sadat's policies. After leaving Al-Ahram, Heikal continued to work as a freelance journalist and in the process published a number of books, all of them historical and political analyses of events in Egypt. Heikal continues to be an influential figure in Egypt. His books include ‘The Sphinx and the Commissar' (1979) and ‘Khareef al-Ghadab' (‘Autumn of Fury' – 1983). In 2007 and 2008, Heikal starred in a series of lectures on Al-Jazeera that were very popular and received high ratings. Heikal turned 80 in 2003 and decided to retire and observe from a professional distance. He continues to speak and write about Egyptian affairs.
