author
Muḥammad Shafīq Ghurbāl
1894–1961
An influential Egyptian historian, he helped shape modern historical scholarship in Egypt through his teaching, research, and public cultural work. His studies of Muhammad Ali, Egypt’s modern formation, and Egyptian-British relations remain central to his legacy.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Alexandria on January 4, 1894, Muḥammad Shafīq Ghurbāl studied at the Higher Teachers School in Cairo before continuing his education at the University of Liverpool during the First World War. His master’s work was supervised by the British historian Arnold J. Toynbee. He later became a professor at Cairo University and was the first Egyptian to hold a history professorship in its Faculty of Arts.
Ghurbāl wrote important works on modern Egyptian history, including The Making of Modern Egypt, Muhammad Ali the Great, and A History of Egyptian-British Negotiations. He also helped establish Egypt’s historical studies movement, served on a UNESCO committee concerned with world history, and contributed to major Arabic encyclopedic projects. He joined the Academy of the Arabic Language in Cairo and the Institut d’Égypte in 1957. He died in Cairo on October 19, 1961.