Isam al-Din Hifni Nasif Collection

Period  1921-1940 (-1949)
Total size   0.12 m.
Consultation Not restricted

Biography

Born in 1899, died in 1969; Egyptian political activist from Alexandria, publicist and one of the first Egyptian socialist theorists; participated in the nationalist revolt led by the Wafd party in 1919; studied agronomy in Berlin 1919-1921 and became deeply influenced by German socialist thought and Marxism; because of his criticism not only of British imperialism but also of the Egyptian upper classes he was repeatedly persecuted and tried; founder of the magazine Ruh al-cAsr (Spirit of the Age) in 1930 and of the Hizb al-cUmmal wa al-Fallahin (Party of the Peasants and Workers) in the same year; author of `Al-Mabadi' al-Ishtirakiyya (`The Principles of Socialism') and other works, including a great many articles in newspapers and magazines, of the novel `Asifa Fawq Misr' (`Storm over Egypt') and of translations of German socialist works.

Content

Collection consisting of clippings of articles and essays by Hifni Nasif on socialism, communism, the Egyptian labour movement, the al-Hizb al-Ishtiraki al-Misri (Egyptian Socialist Party), the Hizb al-cUmmal wa al-Fallahin, the economical, social, political and cultural situation in Egypt, including the position of the Islam and other subjects 1921-1940 (-1949); notes by Hifni Nasif; clippings of articles concerning Hifni Nasif and his family and of articles on his trials 1924-1938 (-1948).

Processing information

List made by Roel Meijer

I N T R O D U C T I O N

History

Isam al-Din Hifni Nasif (1899-1969) belongs to one of the most important early socialist thinkers and activists in Egypt. He was born into a prominent family which played an important role in Egyptian politics and culture. His father, for instance, participated in the Urabi revolution against the British occupation in 1882.
Hifni Nasif became at an early age involved in the nationalist struggle for independence, first as a sympathiser of the Nationalist Party , and later as participant in the 1919 revolution, which was led by the Wafd . During the upheavals of the 1919 revolution he left for Berlin to pursue his studies in agronomy. There he continued his revolutionary activity as one of the main organisers of the Egyptian student movement in Europe. At the same time, he was strongly influenced by the socialist revolt in Germany and the social and political upheavals which followed the First World War. He became convinced that social reform was a precondition for the success of the struggle for national independence. Inevitably, Hifni Nasef's radicalisation led to a confrontation and an eventual break with the more moderate nationalist movement of the Wafd. Hifni Nasif's embracement of socialism was enhanced by his keen interest in science, especially natural evolution. In this regard he followed his older contemporaries in Egypt, Shibli Shumayyal and Salama Musa (1887-1958). His main inspiration he found, however, in German socialist thought and Marxism, although he never was a pure Marxist. He rejected, for instance, the idea of the working class as the leading revolutionary class that formed the vanguard of history. Instead, he put his faith in the reformist potential of independent intellectuals and the middle classes. They formed, according to him, the social categories which would lead Egypt towards independence and development.
Hifni Nasif's fame rests partly on his courage and outspokenness at a time when this was a rare phenomenon in Egypt. Apart from the rejection of colonialism, he criticised the myopic selfishness of large landowners, the adverse influence of foreign monopolies, the deplorable situation of the workers and the peasants, as well as the exclusive character of national education that was limited to the rich. Hifni Nasif's activism led to a continuous confrontation with the authorities, who arrested him in 1919, 1921, 1924, 1931, 1933, 1936 and 1946, and occasionally put him on trial, occasions which became for Egyptian freethinkers rallying points for the defence of free speech. Two incidents became especially famous. In 1921 Hifni Nasif was not allowed to disembark from a German ship in Alexandria on account of an article in which he had offended the king, and in 1931 he was persecuted for his work al-Tajdid al-Ijtima'i (Social Renewal). In effect, this trial was a means to prevent Hifni Nasif from establishing a socialist party in Egypt.
Hifni Nasif's first attempts to establish a socialist party date from 1927. In that year he organised a founding committee with friends. When this attempt failed, he established in 1930 a magazine called Ruh al-'Asr (The Spirit of the Age) as a means to mobilise support for a socialist party. This initiative turned out to be a success and in the same year the Peasants' and Workers' Party (Hizb al-'Ummal wa al-Fallahin) was founded. Its theoretical underpinnings were published by Hifni Nasif in his treatise of 1931 `al-Tajdid al-Ijtima'i, Abhath fi Shu'un al-Ummal wa al-Fallahin' (Social Innovation, Studies on the Situation of the Workers and the Peasants). The party was immediately suppressed and its founders arrested. Another attempt to establish a socialist party, in 1932, led again to Hifni Nasif's arrest. Despite these failed efforts, he never decided to form an underground political movement. For a short while he established relations with Abbas Halim , the aristocratic labour leader.
Hifni Nasif's ideas on socialism are expounded in his work al-Mabadi al-Ishtirakiyya (The Principles of Socialism) published in 1933. During the same year Hifni Nasif made two translations of German socialist thinkers. Apart from his theoretical and political works on reform and socialism, Hifni Nasif wrote a famous social realist novel in 1939 which dealt with the social problem in Egypt, Asifa Fawq Misr (Storm over Egypt).

The collection

The collection of Isam al-Din Hifni Nasif was given to the IISH by Dr. Rif' at al-Sa'id . It consists mainly of newspaper clippings of articles written by Hifni Nasif himself, as well as articles written in response to his essays and works. Nearly all of them are in Arabic. Hifni Nasif's own articles deal with a variety of topics, ranging from socialism in Europe to Egyptian culture and values. Other documents mostly deal with the trials of 1924, 1933 and 1948. Finally, the collection contains hand written notes of Hifni Nasif.

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