Muhammad Anwar El- Sadat (1918 - 1981)

Born 25 Dec 1918 in Mīt Abū al Kawm, Monufia, Egypt

Husband of Eqbal Afifi (Madi) Sadat — married 1940 (to 1949) in Egypt

Died 6 Oct 1981 at age 62 in Cairo, Egypt

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Biography

Anwar El- Sadat is Notable.

Anwar El- Sadat was born in Egypt.

Anwar Sadat served as the third President of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981.

Birth and Youth

Mohammed Anwar el-Sadat (pronounced here) was born 25 Dec 1918, in Mīt Abū al Kawm, Monufia, Egypt. He was the son of Anwar Mohammed El Sadat, an Upper Egyptian, and Sit Al-Berain, who was half Sudanese through her father. He was one of 13 siblings. One of his brothers, Atef Sadat, became a pilot and was killed in action during the October War of 1973. He also had a sister named Sakena Sadat.

Military Career

Anwar graduated from the Royal Military Academy in Cairo in 1938 and was appointed to the Signal Corps. He entered the army as a second lieutenant and was posted to the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. There, he met Gamal Abdel Nasser, and along with several other junior officers they formed the secret Free Officers, an organization committed to expelling the British presence from Egypt and removing royal corruption.

Marriage and Family

Anwar was married first to Eqbal Afifi (Madi) in 1940. She was the daughter of "the mayor of the dead Abu Koum." They had three children, including Camelia, Riwaya, and Ruqayyah ("Raqia"). Anwar divorced Eqbal in 1949, in order to marry his second wife, Jehan Raouf. Anwar and Jahan had four children: Lubna, Noha, Jihan, and his only son, Ganal.

Imprisonment

During World War II, Anwar was imprisoned by the British for his efforts to obtain help from the Axis Powers in expelling the occupying British forces. After the War, he helped plan the assassination of Amin Osman, the Egyptian Minister of Finance, due to his strong alliance with the British. Osman was assassinated in January 1946. Following the assassination of Amin Osman, Sadat was again sent to prison, although the charges were eventually dropped, and he was set free.

1952 Coup

In 1952, Sadat participated in the military coup that launched the Egyptian Revolution which overthrew King Farouk on 23 July. Sadat was assigned the task of announcing the news of the revolution to the Egyptian people over the radio networks.

Presidency

Sadat was a close confidant of President Gamal Abdel Nasser, under whom he served as Vice President twice. Sadat succeeded Nasser as the third President of Egypt on 15 October 1970. In 1973, he launched the Yom Kippur War, intended to remove the Israeli forced that were occupying parts of Egypt. The operation was a success and in 1978, Sadat signed a peace treaty with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, following the Camp David Accords mediated by United States President Jimmy Carter, for which they were recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize.

Assassination

On 6 October 1981, Sadat was assassinated during the annual victory parade held in Cairo to celebrate Egypt's crossing of the Suez Canal. The assassination squad was led by Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli after a fatwā approving the assassination had been obtained from Omar Abdel-Rahman. In addition to Sadat, eleven others were killed, including the Cuban ambassador, an Omani general, a Coptic Orthodox bishop and the head of Egypt's Central Auditing Agency. Twenty-eight were wounded, including Vice President Hosni Mubarak, the Irish Defense Minister, and four US military liaison officers. Islambouli was tried, found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed by firing squad in April 1982.

Sources

See also:

• Wikipedia:Anwar Sadat

Acknowledgements

• This profile has been contributed to by the members of the WikiTree 15 Nations Global Tour of 2023