Gamal Hamdan

Gamal Hamdan (assassinated in 1993) is a truly "encyclopedic scholar" of the twentieth century. His works combine genius-geography, history, psychology, economics and politics. They also reflect a clear literary talent.

Among his most prominent books are: The Character of Egypt, Studies of the Arab World and The Contemporary Islamic World Geography. Despite the fact that time separates the three books, they form a harmonious trilogy and they are unified by a comprehensive view. They provide deep insight into Egypt's natural, economic, political and cultural character and of its position in the surrounding regional environment.

Dr. Gamal Hemdan was not merely an eminent geographer, but indeed a unique example of the serious and fully dedicated academician and scholar. For almost forty years, Dr. Hemdan willingly withdrew from public life, and dedicated himself, in almost hermit-like , but postive seclusion, to intensive meditation, research and prolific writing.An encyclopedic intellectual of a rare caliber, Dr. Hemdan mannaged to invest his wealth of knowledge in the service of a broad spectrum of social sciences, let alone his major specialty; geography. His works had a far-reaching impact on the entire field of social sciences, that was almost tantamount to a revolution in geography.With a unique literary style of his own, Dr. Hemdan turned the science of geography into a univeral, encylcopedic social science. Taking geography as a access road to other branches, he skillfully used this multi-disciplinary approrch to study Egypt’s location, history, culture and future.

Birth :

Hamdan was born in the Qalyoubia Governarate on Feb. 2, 1928 .His father, a teacher of Arabic language, had been discharged from Al Azhar educational institutution on charges of participating in the demonstrations of the Egyptian Revolution of 1919.

Education :

At the age of eight, he joined the primary school. He then moved to the prestigious Tawfiqiyya seondary school, which had a nationwide fame for its high educational standard and sports facilities. There, he became aware of his love and innate talent for geography .

Having completed his secondary education in 1944, with distinction, ranking sixth on the list of graduates nationwide, he joined the Department of Geography at the Cairo University. Faculty of Arts.At the age of twenty, he obtained his B.A with Distinction.He was soon appointed a staff member at Faculty of Arts, where he was granted a schoarship at the University of Reading, U.K to obtain his M.A and Ph.D degrees .There, he was a student of the eminent Enghlish geographer, Professor Austen Miller .

Career :

Hemdan’s M.A thesis entitled “Population of the Nile Mid Delta; Past and Present" was highly commended by his professor. He believed that the thesis was eligible to a Ph . D. In 1951 , Hemdan returned to Egypt to collect his scientific data.

In 1953, he obtained his Ph.D Honours, Grade I . Back in cairo, he was appointed a teacher at the Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, Cairo University. Upon his return, Hemdan found out that many changes were taking place in the Egyptian society, following the 1952 Revolution .

He was looking forword to positively contribute, through his intellectual and scientific efforts, to the devolpment of the Egyptian society.

However, with his rare, high sensitivity, Hemdan found out he was unable to cope with some negative social aspects affecting his academic career.

He preferred to withdraw, in silence from the hustle and bustle of public life and willingly abandoned his academic career. Although Hemdan lived, physically, in voluntary almost hermit-like seclusion, yet he was most productive as a thinker and scholar. Apparently, this self - imposed positive solitude provided for him the right atmosphere for unceasing, uninterrupted and free meditation, research and innovation.

The works produced during his solitude vividly show his exceptinal talent, not only as a geographer but also as a social scientist. To Hemdan, geography was a tool whereby to induce and take inspiration from the spirit of place to reach an accurate scientific definition of its characteristic .

He thought of geography both as a science, art and philosophy .He advocted what he called “ Living Geography” i.e every day geography. If adequately defined, the pattern, nature, conditions and laws relating to life in that place will be thouroughly identified .

Hemdan’s natural talent for painting and caligraphy and his liking for music and singing were instrumental to his exceptional excellence in geography .

Major viewpoints and thoughts

Hemdan’s outstanding intellectual and geographical achievements constituted the most important accomplishment of the Egyptian geographical school, that stresses Egypt’s uniqueness and singularity in terms of time and place, of geogrophy and history. In his works, he adopted a multi-disciplinary approach, encompassing geography, history, sociology, politics and culture .Hemdan’s writings clearly manifested a unique wealth of knowledge, an immense power of meditation and observation and a distinct, devoted love of Egypt. His was the connoisseur’s love of the components of a unique gem. Utilizing these exceptional resources, Hemdan could delineate and interpret the Egyptian personality as influenced by location and geographical considerations.

Major works

Hemdan left behind a rich legacy of writing in both Arabic and English languages, including seventeen books in Arabic and eight in English, in addition to several articles in Arabic, published in newspapers, magazines and other publications .

It is worthy of note that he had a futuristic outlook in his writings. He predicted several events, which, he thought, were compatible or incompatible with the facts of geography. Chief of these was his prediction of the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

His encyclopedic work; "The Personality of Egypt", The most outstanding of his intellectual achievements, was the product of ten years of dedicated afforts, during which time he used 245 Arabic language and 691 foreign reference books in several languages.

In this prestigious book, he elaborately expounded the constituent factors making-up the Egyptian personality since the early days of the Pharaos. To him, Egypt was the central chapter of the book of geography, that turned into the opening chapter of the book of history, maintaining all through a coherent civilization across history. Egypt, to Hemdan was a unique unrepetitive geographical anomaly. Apart from the “ Description of Egypt ”, which appeared in print during the French Expedition to Egypt , Hemdan’s book; The personality of Egypt remains an unprecedental scientific masterpiece on Egypt.

Main Prizes and Merit awards

Dr. Gamal Hemdan won several scientific prizes and merit awards including:

State Incentive Prize for Arts and Letters, 1959.State Merit Prize for Social Science, 1986.Scientific Criticism Award , by the State of Kuwait, 1986.Order of Merit of the First Class for Science and Arts, 1988. In linee with his full dedication to science and his almost ascetic attitude to formalities, he refused to breack up with his self-imposed solitude . apart from the first prize awarded to him in 1959 , he refused to receive any of the other prizes .In April 17 , 1993, Dr. Gamal Hemdan died , leaving behind such a huge scientific legacy , that would rightly position him as an outstanding landmark in the modern Egyptian enlightening movement .

Dr. Hemdan's Books in Arabic Language:

Studies on the Arab World, Cairo, 1958.Patterns of Environments, Cairo, 1958.Study on Urban Geography, Cairo 1958.The Arab City, Cairo 1964.Arabs'Oil, Cairo, 1964.Colonialisation and Liberation in the Arab World, Cairo, 1964.Anthroplogy of Jews, Dar el-Helal Publications, Cairo, 1967.Egypt's Identity, Dar el-Helal Publications, Cairo, 1967.The Strategy of Colonialisation and Liberation, Cairo, 1978.Introduction to "Cairo" " by Desmond Stewart, translated by Yehya Haqqi, 1969.The Contemporary Islamic World, Cairo, 1971.Between Europe and Aisa, A Study in the Geographic Counterparts, Cairo, 1972.The Arab Republic of Libya, A Study in Geopolitics, Cairo 1973.6th of October War in the International Strategy, Cairo, 1974.The Suez Canal, Cairo, 1975.New Africa, Cairo, 1975.Egypt's Identity, A Study in the Genius of the Place, four volumes, Cairo, 1975-84.

Dr Hemdan's Books in English:

Population of the Nile Mid-Delta, Past and Present, Reading University, June 1953, 2 volumes.Khartoum : Study of a City, Geog. Review, 1956.Studies in Egyptian Ubranism, Cairo, 1960.Evolution of Irrigation and Agriculture in Egypt.A History of Land Use in Arid Regions, Ed . L. Dubley Stamp UNESCO , Paris, 1961.Egypt : the Land and the People, A Guide Book to Geology, 1962.

Pattern of Medieval Urbanism in Arab World, Geog. Review, April 1962.A Political Map of the New Africa, Geog. Review October 1963.The Four Dimensions of Egypt.