Egypt

Abstract

In 2008, Egypt will likely celebrate the centenary of its first modern university, known today as the Old Egyptian University. Originally established as a private institution in 1908, it became the State University in 1925, was later renamed Fouad the First, in the name of the King of Egypt, and then became Cairo University after the 1952 revolution. There is no doubt that Cairo University—with its remarkable architecture— today constitutes one of Egypt’s leading “places of memory,” to use a term by the French historian Pierre Nora (Nora, 1997). From national historiography to cinema, from novels to autobiographies, it seems that the university campus has always been seen as an actor in—or at least a witness to—the country’s historical events (not to mention the millions of personal lives that the university has significantly changed). Like in most historical commemorations, Egyptians will have mixed feelings (and some bitterness too), when comparing the magnified glories of the past with the university’s present situation.