Communist Party of Egypt Collection

Period (1975-) 1981-1987 (-1996)
Total size   1 m.
Consultation Not restricted

History

Being dissatisfied with the merger of the al-Hizb al-Shuyuci al-Misri (Communist Party of Egypt, CPE) in the Nasserist Arab Socialist Union (ASU) in 1965 former party members started publishing the independent communist journal al-Intisar (Victory) in 1973; the capitalist and pro-Western policy of president Sadat made them decide to re-establish the CPE in 1975; in 1978 the party drew up its programme, calling for the overthrow of capitalism, the termination of the capitulation policy with Israel and the return of Egypt to the progressive Arab camp; being excluded from the general elections in 1987 its candidates were supported by the Tagammuc Party.

Content

Part of its records consisting of minutes of and other documents relating to the meeting of the Central Committee in 1984; resolutions by the Central Committee 1981-1989; documents relating to congresses, including statutes, the party programme and a report of the third congress 1981, 1983; reports and analyses by the CPE of the political and economic situation in Egypt 1980-1996; communiques 1984-1988; leaflets and pamphlets 1981-1996; a number of copies of al-Intisar, of al-Hayat al-Hizbiyya and of other CPE periodicals 1979-1996; documents relating to the Union of Democratic Egyptian Youth (UDEY) 1978-1980; some correspondence with the editors of al-Nahj 1987-1989; joint communiques with other communist parties from the Middle East 1975, 1980-1985; pamphlets, leaflets and other printed documents of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the Tagammuc Party and other organizations 1978-1988; clippings 1975-1986.

Arrangement

The collection of the Communist Party of Egypt was acquired with the assistence of Dr. Rifcat al-Sacid. In 1995 it was brought to Amsterdam from Minsk in White Russia where the collection was kept in the custody of an Egyptian émigré during the 1980s. The collection is probably a `shadow' or `reserve' archive of the CPE consisting mostly of duplicates of documents. It is not an original archives in the strict meaning of the word: it doesn't contain, for instance, correspondence by the Central Committee. Some sections of the collection do, however, appear to be parts of the original archives, such as the extensive and unique documentation of the meeting of the Central Committee in November 1984, which contains minutes of the meeting, adopted resolutions and the four discussed working papers (see nos. 2-14). Although the collection is not complete, it does give a unique insight into the thought and strategy of the CPE on account of the diversity of the documents, ranging from congress papers, resolutions and lengthy analyses used for determining the strategy of the party, to specialised activities of the CPE such as its student movement. In addition, the collection contains leaflets and pamphlets issued by the CPE on internal Egyptian and foreign Egyptian affairs; several party periodicals such as al-Intisar, al-Nashra al-Tanzimiyya and al-Wacy; and furthermore newspaper clippings and other documentation collected by members of the CPE.
At the end of 1997 the arrangement of the collection, which wasn't properly arranged, has been started. Documents relating to the same subjects have been grouped together and series have been made of resolutions by the Central Committee, of communiques and of copies of party periodicals. In January 1998 the work has been completed.

Processing information

Inventory made by Roel Meijer in 1998