Esmat Abd al-Maguid

1924 -

Egyptian diplomat and statesman.

Born in Alexandria and educated there, Esmat Abd al-Maguid (also, Ismat Abd al-Majid) entered the Egyptian foreign service in 1950 and earned a doctorate from the University of Paris in 1951. He took part in the Anglo - Egyptian negotiations of 1954 and negotiated with France after the 1956 Suez War. In 1970 he served as Egypt's ambassador to that country. He headed Egypt's mission to the United Nations from 1972 to 1983 and was minister of foreign affairs from 1984 to 1991 and deputy prime minister from 1985. He was secretary-general of the League of Arab States from 1991 to 2001. An advocate of Arab unity, he worked closely with Mahmud Riyad. Shortly before his retirement Abd al-Maguid spoke at the Arab summit meeting of October 2000, calling on all Arabs to donate one day's pay as a gesture of support to the Palestinians. He was interviewed by the Yale United Nations Oral History Project.

Bibliography

Goldschmidt, Arthur. "Abd al-Majid, Dr. Ahmad Ismat." In Biographical Dictionary of Modern Egypt, edited by Arthur Goldschmit. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2000.

— ARTHUR GOLDSCHMIDT