Mohamed Fawzi (general)

Mohamed Fawzi (Arabic: محمد فوزي; 5 March 1915 – 16 February 2000) was an Egyptian general and politician who served as minister of defense.

Mohamed Fawzi
Minister of Defense
In office
January 1968 – May 1971
PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser
Anwar Sadat
Preceded byAmin Howeidi
Succeeded byMohammed Sadek
Personal details
Born(1915-03-05)5 March 1915
Abbasiya, Cairo, Sultanate of Egypt
Died16 February 2000(2000-02-16) (aged 84)
Heliopolis, Cairo, Egypt
Alma materMilitary academy
Military service
Branch/serviceEgyptian Army
Rank Colonel General

Early life and education

Fawzi was born in Abbasiya, Cairo, on 5 March 1915.[1] He attended the Egyptian Royal Military Academy and graduated in 1936.[2] He also held a master's degree, which he received from the same institution in 1952.[1]

Career

During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Fawzi first met Gamal Abdel Nasser[2] and served as the commander of anti-aircraft artillery in Deir Suneid.[3] In 1957, Fawzi was appointed by President Nasser as commander of the Military Academy. In 1961, Fawzi headed the Egypt's military mission as part of the UN forces in Congo.[1] He became military secretary-general of the Arab League in March 1964.[3] The same month, he was also made Nasser's chief of staff.[4] a post he occupied until the Six-Day War in June 1967.[5][6]

Fawzi (right) with President Gamal Abdel Nasser, 1969

After the war, Fawzi resigned from his office and was replaced by Abdel Moneim Reiad in the post.[7] On 11 June 1967 Fawzi was appointed general commander, replacing Abdel Hakim Amer in the post.[8] Amer and his allies protested the move and immediately afterward, 600 officers loyal to Amer besieged army headquarters demanding Amer's reinstatement and threatening to oust Fawzi.[8] Amer was plotting to launch a coup on 27 August, and tension mounted between him and Nasser. Amer was invited to the president's home, and was apprehended there. Meanwhile, Fawzi led an army takeover of Amer's villa, where all thirteen truckloads of the plotters' weapons were seized.[8]

In January 1968, Fawzi was appointed defense minister.[3] He also became one of the members of the Supreme Executive Committee of Egypt the same year.[9] Fawzi continued to serve as defense minister during the administration of Egypt's next President, Anwar Sadat. However, Fawzi and six other ministers resigned from office in May 1971.[10] These individuals who were close to Nasser were called the May Group.[11] Mohammed Sadek replaced Fawzi as defense minister.[12][13]

Fawzi (second from left) with President Gamal Abdel Nasser (second from right) and Chief of Staff Abdul Munim Riad (seated first from right) at Suez Canal front during the War of Attrition with Israel, February 1968

Arrest and sentence

Immediately after his resignation, Fawzi was arrested due to his alleged role in a coup plot.[14][15] Sadat announced that Fawzi had been placed under house arrest in May 1971.[10][16] Fawzi was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment.[17] In December 1971, Sadat reduced Fawzi's sentence to 15 years of hard labor.[17][18] Fawzi received a pardon in 1974, due to concerns about his health and in recognition of his military service.[1]

Later years and death

In his later years, Fawzi published books on military affairs and gave lectures.[14] He also published a biography.[19] He joined Arab Democratic Nasserist Party, being a member of its political bureau.[14]

Fawzi died on 16 February 2000 in Heliopolis in Cairo.[3]

References
  1. Arthur Goldschmidt (2000). Biographical Dictionary of Modern Egypt. Boulder, CO; London: Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-55587-229-8.
  2. "General Mohammed Fawzi". Edward Fox. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  3. "Fighter bid farewell". Al Ahram Weekly. 469. 17–23 February 2000. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013.
  4. Brooks, p. 89.
  5. "The three-year war". Al Ahram Weekly. 1107. 19–25 July 2012. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012.
  6. "On this day. 1967: Egypt and Jordan unite against Israel". BBC. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  7. "Suez artillery battle renewed". The Glasgow Herald. 10 March 1969. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  8. Kandil, 2012, pp. 85, 87, 90.
  9. "Egypt-Internal Relations". Mongabay. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  10. "Shakeup for Egypt cabinet said purge". Lawrence Journal. AP. 14 May 1971. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  11. Salwa Sharawi Gomaa (1986). Egyptian diplomacy in the seventies: a case study in leadership (PhD thesis). University of Pittsburgh. p. 30. ISBN 979-8-206-43008-0. ProQuest 303523652.
  12. "Terrorist plot cited". The Milwaukee Sentinel. 17 May 1971. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  13. Robert Springborg (July–August 1987). "The President and the Field Marshal". Middle East Report (147): 5. JSTOR 3011943.
  14. "Obituaries in the News". Associated Press. Cairo. 17 February 2000. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  15. Gerasimos Tsourapas (2018). The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt Strategies for Regime Survival in Autocracies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 93. doi:10.1017/9781108630313. ISBN 9781108630313. S2CID 158281381.
  16. Hicham Bou Nassif (Autumn 2013). "Wedded to Mubarak: The Second Careers and Financial Rewards of Egypt's Military Elite, 1981-2011". The Middle East Journal. 67 (4): 510. JSTOR 43698073.
  17. "Sadat spares 4 lives". The Milwaukee Journal. Cairo. UPI. 9 December 1971. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  18. "Chronology November 16, 1971-February 15, 1972". The Middle East Journal. 26 (2): 166. Spring 1972. JSTOR 4324910.
  19. Youssef Aboul-Enein (1 November 2012). "The Egyptian Armed Forces Collapse before His Eyes the 1967 Six-Day War". Infantry Magazine.

Bibliography
  • Risa Brooks (2008), Shaping Strategy: The Civil-military Politics of Strategic Assessment, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-12980-8
  • Hazem Kandil (2012), Soldiers, Spies and Statesmen: Egypt's Road to Revolt, London: Verso Books, ISBN 978-1-84467-962-1
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